The Cobalt Mirror
by TamariMizu
Summary: The dogmatic aliens called the "Angels" have a singular blind purpose; to wipe out humanity in favor of Adam's progeny. What would happen if some mysterious force subverted and tainted the unholy mission of the Angel of Thunder, Ramiel? A recent arrival named Jadel Rami and her new acquaintance Ikari Shinji are about to find out!
1. Chapter 1-Arrival

**Chapter 1-Arrival**

The dreaded day had finally come. A sorrowful young teenage girl with unsteady hands, and braced legs wheeled down the sterile white hospital hallway after the stern nurse in her customized black chair. She had light tan skin, long black hair tied up in a simple ponytail, and compassionate honey brown eyes. She knew being called out of her classes out of Fatima Middle school to report to the main city hospital on the outskirts of Neo-Abu Dhabi could only mean her long suffering cherished uncle was with Allah.

The male nurse reached the end of the hallway and opened a sliding door, and looked at the softly sobbing girl with a slight frown as he handed her a microcassette recorder, "I'm sorry Miss Jadel. He didn't suffer in the end." He nodded stiffly and left.

"T-thanks. She wheeled into the room alone where her last relation lay under a white sheet. Bright sunlight streamed in through the tenth story window and gave a breathtaking vista of the ocean that had swallowed up the old city under 20 meters of water. Rami sighed as she dabbed at her eyes but the overcast gloomy skies that she might have wished for considering the circumstances was clearly rarely ever present in a desert town bordering the Persian Gulf. She noticed the brilliant sunlight glinting off a plane in the distance. She slowly reached out and clutched her uncle Aarif's withered hand through the sheet. "I'm…so sorry you have to see me like this uncle. Thank you for everything you did for me. I love you and will ever keep your memory alive. Praise Allah."

She hit the "play" button and heard her uncle's tired but eternally affable voice. "I'm so sorry I have to go my little girl, but the Allmighty decrees my fate. Rami, my child, all I can do now is place you in the care of my former professor in Tokyo-three. Your new guardian's name is name is Doctor Kozo Fuyutsuki, professor Emeritus from Tokyo-two University. The papers on the nightstand drawer contain a letter, passport and all the information you'll need to know to get to Japan."

She nodded and sniffled, remembering how he had joyfully recounted his former life working as a graduate research student in Biomechanics under Dr. Fuyutsuki before the world nearly ended. Before the Second Impact meteor strike had wiped out Antarctica and snuffed out her mother's life along with countless millions worldwide.

"He works in a top secret branch of the Japanese government now, so you can't live with him, but he has made special arrangements on my behalf to give you a new home. Be brave my fearless Rami."

"T-t-thank…" Rami sobbed uncontrollably as she kissed her uncle's cold hand, not realizing at first that a dark ultramarine shadow had plunged the room into eerie darkness. "I'm…I'm going to make you proud Uncle Aarif! I promise with my life."

A high pitched feminine voice outside assaulted her ears as it blasted the surrounding area with an unbearable pressure wave that shattered the windows! She opened her eyes in horror and gaped at an eight hundred meter high translucent octahedron casually hovering just offshore. All along a black strip bisecting its midsection a thundering roar built up as a bright light blinded her. Somehow she knew that…alien was there to kill her!

She blinked back fresh tears as she whimpered, "It's not fair. I still wanted-"

Paired with an agonized scream, a brilliant energy beam vaporized the hospital into a cloud of stray subatomic particles.

…

Rami Jadel started awake in a jump, and shook her head. Whatever her nightmare had been about had completely faded away other than only the vaguest feelings of knowing she had died in it. She regained her bearings and remembered where she was. She brushed sweat off her brow from the heat, and unfolded the letter from Principal Nakahara that gave the return address as "First Municipal Tokyo-3 M.S."

A soothing voice echoed over the bare concrete platform, "Please stand behind the striped yellow line, Red Line Express terminating in Tokyo-three, with stops in Yokohama and Tokyo-two is now arriving." As she watched a sleek, streamlined train pulled smoothly into the station and came to a stop with a faint hiss. With slightly unsteady gloved hands, she maneuvered her wheelchair over the gap and into the empty car. After a few moments of her alone with her thoughts, the door slammed shut behind her and the train smoothly resumed its speedy trip towards the capital. She wheeled over to a marked seat, clipped into the wheelchair brace, and sighed. She rummaged in the backpack attached to the back of her chair, and pulled out the leaflet showing the amenities of the glittering new capital city of Japan when the sound of a sliding door at the end of the car caught her attention.

The visitor was a young boy. He was slight of build and had a softly feminine face, closely cropped dark brown hair, and moody, introspective blue eyes. He was dressed in a plain white dress shirt, black slacks and matching loafers. Slung over his shoulder was a drab knapsack. Earbuds attached to long draping black wires disappeared into his shirt pocket where some sort of music player walled off the ambient noise of the deserted train cabin.

Rami waited until he spotted her and beamed, brightly waving to him.

Shinji stopped in his tracks at this most unexpected encounter. He had had the run of the deserted train since boarding hours earlier and spent it brooding over his ever-miserable fortune. Why had father called him back now? It couldn't be to patch things up over their defunct relationship could it? Who was this weird lady that was picking him up with the raven hair and sexy top that had sent him a provocative postcard of herself? All these swirling thoughts came crashing to a halt as he simply gaped at the strange tan-skinned girl who he didn't know from Adam. Why was she waving at him? He looked back at her with frank bafflement.

She continued with the now slight smile as she remarked, "Hi there!"

He shook his head and yanked out the earbuds, "I'm sorry miss?"

"Yokohama or Tokyo?"

The boy looked totally stumped for a response. Rami crossed her arms and made a mock pout. He fidgeted for a few seconds before she broke into a soft titter. "I'm Jadel. Nice to meet you good sir." She extended out an open hand.

Finally he broke out of his trance and very hesitatingly bowed respectfully instead of shaking hands. He detested close physical contact, and being near a cute girl made him reflexively raise his defensive barriers even more than normal. He stammered uncontrollably, "I...I'm Ikari. P-pleased to meet you Jadel-san."

Rami suppressed a laugh with difficulty. This boy was simply too much. "This seat's free if you want it."

"I'm O-okay. I don't want to be a bother." Please let me escape he silently pleaded.

"Oh of course its no bother. Have a seat with me, Mister Ikari. I'd love the company."

He insatiable desire to please others at his own expense got the better of him once again. His nonexistant willpower crumbled immediately. What he gotten himself into, he mused inwardly. He awkwardly sat across from the strange girl, and tried not to gawk too openly at her wheelchair or unsteady arms. It would be unspeakably rude to use his SDAT player to listen to his music or stare out the window. He was trapped. The boy was at a loss of what to say so he stared at her travel brochure instead. He read the banner out loud, "Tokyo-three, the city of the Future."

"Yeah." She nodded with a sad glint in her light brown eyes, "My new home. I have a promise there I must keep."

"Promise?" Shinji empathized with her flickering expression of uncertainty, "M-me too."

"Really?" Her face lit up, "You're going there too, aren't you? Great! I know somebody from Tokyo-three now!"

He flushed in intense embarrassment. He was absolutely useless around girls, and thoroughly isolated himself from his peers ever since being sent away to his uncle's after his mother's untimely death. "Y-y-yeah."

"I'm staying at the First Municipal Middle school. Feel free to visit me, Ikari-san."

He blinked in disbelief, "Staying? You're living at a school?"

"Uh-huh. Caretaker's apartment. My uncle arranged a work-study arrangement with an old mentor in town. I'll be covering the landscaping."

For some reason this odd girl had effortlessly outmaneuvered his well-fortified antisocial barriers. Shinji was nervous as hell to try to make conversation for the rest of the trip, even a small part of him was slightly pleased that he wouldn't have to brood endlessly. He sadly knew it was unlikely that they would ever see each other again. Even if he ended up going to the same school as her, he knew he would obey deeply ingrained avoidance habits and simply wall himself away again.

…

Just outside the Tokyo-3 commuter train station in an eerily deserted street, Ikari hung up the disconnected green payphone and looked apologetically over at his new acquaintance, feeling now somewhat responsible for her predicament. Air raid sirens shrieked in the near distance as both of the youths looked helplessly around at the abandoned vehicles with their doors left ajar. The only other sound was the rasping buzzing of the cicadas.

Rami smiled sheepishly, "No bus service today, huh?"

Shinji spoke in sudden alarm, "Please tell me you're not going on foot!"

The girl winked and patted the armrest, "Not in this contraption I'm not."

Crap! "I'm s-sorry." Ikari flushed and sighed as he added yet another social blunder to his endless heap. "I'm sure Ms. Katsuragi will give you a lift as well." He turned and his eyes widened as he saw a strange girl a block away with cerulean hair and crimson eyes in a schoolgirl's outfit staring right at him!

Rami piped up incredulously, "Ikari-san do you see that girl?"

They exchanged confused glances and looked back down the street. Whoever she was, she was gone now.

A tremendous explosion sent both of them reeling as a tan VTOL aircraft the size of a bus crashed into a fence not even a hundred meters away! Then an inhuman black and tan giant the size of Godzilla brought its foot down on the crippled aircraft causing a fireball explosion. Both of the children threw up their hands in stunned terror but a nimble vehicle blocked the shockwave. Rami muttered reflexively under her breath in horrified awe, "Sachiel."

The black-haired driver yelled out, "Shinji, sorry I'm late! Get in."

"B-but this girl is…"

"No time. Toss her in."

"Y-yes Ma'am!" Shinji cursed as he clumsily hoisted the girl out of the chair, blushing furiously, and promptly tumbled over backwards into the left hand passenger seat. He had just straightened her upright, when Katsuragi pumped the gas in reverse, and hit the brakes, slamming the door shut. She then gunned it at top speed away from the fearsome monster that was too preoccupied with blasting the military VTOLs out of the sky to attack them. Ikari was too terrified to mention they had left the girl's wheelchair behind as the blue sports car roared down empty streets, dodging the occasional stopped car like a skier in a demented slalom course! The two children were tightly wedged together, but Rami looked more bemused than embarrassed.

"Captain Katsuragi Misato at your service, Mister Ikari Shinji."

"Uh. Uh. H-hi."

Katsuragi grinned evilly behind her wraparound sunshades, "This cutie your new girlfriend?"

Despite the terror of imminent death looming over him, Shinji managed to turn crimson and barked out, "She's not! We just met on the train."

"I'm Jadel Rami, Captain. It's a pleasure to meet you! Ikari-san told me about you on the train."

Misato cackled as she saw Shinji's face become even redder, "Did he now?"

Just as they rounded the crest of a steep hill, Misato slewed the car into a nimble skid and came to a stop. Far below them, they could see the rampaging creature with ghastly atrophied arms and legs make mincemeat of the JSSDF forces. Her eyes widened as she saw the VTOLS suddenly scatter in all directions, "Aw crap, not an N2-" For a few eternal seconds, it looked like the sun had gone supernova! A titanic shockwave fanned out in all directions, including straight for their hill. "Get down, now!"

They obeyed as the overpowering concussive and thermal shockwaves decimated the entire surrounding areas, ripping apart trees and toppling buildings, but bypassing a thin wedge of asphalt that the idling Renault was resting on. The glare faded out and once their vision cleared they all gawked at the several hundred square meters of intact roadway around them surrounded by nothing else but smoldering debris.

Ikari started to breathe again, "T-t-that was close."

The captain slammed the car into gear again, and tore off down the street towards the hidden NERV vehicle entrance ramp, wondering how on earth an explosion that ripped the entire hillside apart barely singed her car's paint job.

…

Shinji's day had started off crappy and it was only going downhill from there. The only bright spot had been meeting that odd Arab girl with the ponytail on the train. At least she was safe in a surface shelter as he and Misato continued down into the massive hollowed out underground geofront. The rest of the day was all downhill: he had been blackmailed by his bastard of a father into piloting a giant purple and green striped 50 meter tall robot to save a severely injured albino girl from dying; forced up to the surface totally unprepared to fight this strange "Third angel" monster; and the highlight of the night being his robot tripping face first into the street.

In the vast hanger-like space of NERV HQ , now with her crimson military jacket thrown over her dress, Misato cursed and loudly barked into the communications console, "Shinji, get the hell up!"

Shinji reeled in pain, as the angel had already mangled his mecha's left arm, and the next thing he saw was a three fingered claw grasping his robot's skull and effortlessly hoisting Unit 1 in the air like a ragdoll. He was screwed.

The captain banged her fist on the control panel as the staff watched with mute horror as the third angel used a battering ram mounted in its wrist to attempt to punch through Unit 1's head. She yelled in frustration, "Fight the angel Shinji!"

A nearby nerdy technician named Hyuga gasped at the reading on his holographic displays, "No way. Our luck can't possibly be this bad." He whirled around in his seat as he barked, Captain, another intruder has entered Tokyo-three airspace! Blood pattern is blue. It's another angel."

"Not now! Divert half of the intercept system to target the new bogey." Katsuragi felt her guts clench as she knew the inexperienced pilot would be killed by a combination attack, and Rei would die soon after. The game was over before it had even started. Now she would never see her father's death avenged-

Everyone except the stoic Commander Ikari gasped in shock as the cobalt-hued, kite-shaped angel shrieked as it plowed through the third angel's AT field and cleanly severed its arm off at the elbow.

Shinji felt the shock as his purple cybernetic robot inelegantly crashed to the ground, the now useless angel's arm still gripping his unit's head. He used his remaining right arm to yank off the offending appendage and gaped as a flat diamond shaped being filled his entire field of view. Directly in its center was a shimmering crimson sphere.

In NERV HQ a long-haired tech named Aoba piped up, "There's no doubt. The Fourth angel just cancelled out the third's AT field and destroyed one of its arms."

Misato couldn't believe their change in luck, as she thoughtlessly brushed her fingers against the white cross around her neck. Nothing in her briefings had ever indicated one of these horrid monsters could go rogue. "Now's our chance Shinji! Retreat back to Shaft T-21 and return to base! Then we'll hit both angels with an N2 barrage."

Ikari gaped with awe as his mysterious benefactor blocked the third angel's blinding beam attacks, the clashing prismatic shields wildly fluctuating between the two combatants.

Katsuragi's best friend, Dr. Akagi Ristsuko cut in, "Misato, the Fourth angel's core is completely exposed. Tell Shinji to smash it."

Misato nodded in agreement, "Shinji! That red sphere right in front of you is the angel's exposed core. It's the heart, brain and soul of that monster. Punch it as hard as you can!"

Unit-1 was willed back into a standing position as the boy realized the two monstrous titans were locked in a stalemate. But abruptly the third angel's attacks penetrated its opponent's defenses and blasted one of the quadrants off the rhombus, sending razor-sharp cobalt shards everywhere. Several fragments ended up stuck in his unit's chest armor and shoulders. Shinji finally made a decision to repay his debt, as he knew he would have been a dismembered corpse by now if not for the blue angel's timely aid. He reached out with his functional right arm and gently touched the damaged angel's core. To his considerable surprise, the forth angel smoothly altered shape as it made a noise halfway between a high-pitched wordless note and a sigh. It shed 99% of its mass into thin air as it wrapped part of its tail section around his unit's crippled left hand and wrist, and snapped into place as if it was a giant appendage. He screamed in pain as the constricting mass of the angel effectively splinted his robot's arm back into alignment. After the wave of nausea and agony passed he glanced to his left and managed a hysterical laugh in the LCL fluid as he now was effectively wielding the crystal angel as an oversized sword.

Misato's brown eyes widened with stunned disbelief, "Shinji, what the hell are you doing?"

In a blink of an eye, Unit-1's AT field joined the Fourth angel's and with a primal scream Shinji plunged the blade's tip all the way through the black and white angel's core and out its back. The defeated third angel roared and self destructed and only managed to shatter the bladetip of the Fourth angel with its detonation. The NERV staff watched in hushed awe as the nearly intact Unit-1 walked out of the flames, its white eyes glowing demonically. The severely damaged crystal angel disconnected from its teammate, rocketed away and quickly vanished off NERV HQ sensors into the night.


	2. Chapter 2-Displacement

**Chapter 2-Displacement**

Inside the liquid-filled tubular entry plug implanted deep within the mecha's chest Shinji abruptly started out of his trance. The young teen slumped exhausted back onto his control couch and let his arms fall free from the control grips. He heard a chorus of voices commenting on what sounded like complete gibberish to his untrained ears. His ride was clamped into a mobile platform that was in a dark shaft with dozens of vertically oriented lights speeding by as if he was on a free falling elevator shaft. He looked over at his displays and the schematics showed a rapid descent through Shaft T-21 just outside the walls of the massive hollowed out spherical geofront cavity directly beneath the city's heart. Once below the ball-shaped underground space, the shafts merged with dozens of other junctions on its way back down to Elevator #1 in the vast hanger space called the "cage" by the staff. It was within that horrid room where he had argued in vain against his monstrous father only a half hour earlier; although it somehow felt like it was an eternity ago. His left arm throbbed mercilessly despite it being his robot's broken arm that was in a splint. He clenched his left hand repeatedly just to verify that it was still attached to his body.

Captain Katsuragi's voice practically blew out his eardrums in the fluid-amplified LCL "Earth to Shinji!"

"Y-yes ma'am!"

"I've hailed you at least half a dozen times!" Her voice quickly became subdued as she audibly sighed, "I'm glad you're still alive. I'll pick you up for debriefing once you're out of Unit One."

"O-of course."

Another tech with a feminine voice spoke up, "Magi Balthasar indicates Unit One has a fractured ulna and radius on the left forearm. Repair protocols have been auto-activated. Battery packs are undamaged. Hairline cracks on the right optical sensor plate. Stand by for pilot recovery."

Once back in the vast rectangular hanger half-filled with LCL fluid, his robot was trundled over to a stand, and the connection between human and machine was served as his control screens went dark and his cylindrical cockpit ejected in an upwards diagonal path with an annoying high pitched buzzsaw-like whir. After retracting into the ceiling, the orange-hued LCL was siphoned out of the cabin and after coughing out the remnants from his lungs he took grateful gulps of air even though the air hung heavy with a faint ferric smell that made his stomach turn sour. The hatch above him winched open, and with a red-suited tech's assistance he staggered out onto a grate covered platform suspended a good thirty meters above the now inert Unit 1.

The tech had spiky black hair as he smiled to the young pilot and carefully removed his A10 synchronization clips from his hair, "You okay there, sport?"

"Huh? He looked over in confusion at the friendly engineer.

"You did a hell of a job there Pilot Ikari. I'm NERV Technician First Class Ryujou and I'll look after Unit One for you, and make sure she's in tip top shape for your next sortie. My team has your back."

Captain Katsuragi wearily entered the pilot embarkation chamber and waved off the tech, "Keep me posted on Unit One's damage, Ryujou-san."

"Ma'am." He saluted and jogged up the ramp to take the elevator down to the hanger floor.

Misato's brown eyes looked sternly at Shinji's and the fourteen year old quickly examined his feet and cringed unconsciously. "Well look at the bright side. You're not dead, the city is still standing, and you did bring back Unit One mostly intact. Let's go get you debriefed after you get changed and have a shower."

He stammered uncontrollably as he meekly followed his boss up the ramp, "Y-y-yes ma'am."

…

The sunlight slanting between giant skyscrapers finally fell on a prone girl's face, and though her body rebelled from any kind of movement, she soon stirred awake. Jadel had never taken a drink in her life, but she reasoned this is what a hangover must feel like as she woke up next to a green dumpster. She felt several swellings on her head and her right arm felt like someone had stomped on it. She saw a glittering, sharp-edged blue stone on the pavement, and she curiously picked it up and pocketed it. With difficulty she hobbled out of the alleyway on her shaky braced legs and slumped onto a sidewalk bench. After giving prayers of thanks to Allah for surviving the night in the wake of the alien's attack, she considered her options. She realized that she obviously wasn't in the shelter that the Captain had left her in, but she reflexively pushed the thought of how that had happened to the back burner. Ikari didn't have a cell phone, and although Kasturagi had exchanged numbers with her, she knew that calling her would cause too many complications. She settled for dialing information and calling a taxi service to take her to her new home at the middle school. She would contact her new guardian Dr. Fuyutsuki after her classes ended for the day. Only after hanging up did she notice the gigantic hole in the street a few blocks away surrounded by heavy construction machinery and blocked off with barricades staffed by JSSDF military personnel. Directly in front of her was a gigantic hatch inset in the street labeled "EVA T-21". Why did that strange doorway look so familiar?

At the edge of the vast city halfway up a steep hillside, Shinji couldn't quite place his mood as he walked to his new school; it was too novel to easily categorize. After being grilled for over an hour by the intimidating Dr. Akagi and Vice Commander Fuyutsuki about his reckless decision to fight alongside the crystal angel instead of crushing it, Misato had escorted him out, gave him a crushing hug, and thrown him an impromptu welcome party in the NERV base cafeteria for his victory over the third angel! Her turnaround from stern Captain to exuberant party girl had left the shy boy reeling. The praise, handshakes, and pats on the back from his new coworkers had made him deeply uneasy and he had on a forced smile most of the evening when he wasn't hiding in the bathroom. It went without saying that his father was not in attendance. After flopping in a bed in a sterile rectangular bedroom in the underground base and staring at an unfamiliar ceiling for half the night with the music player blaring music through his earbuds, he had opted to go to school as he had nothing better to do until his Unit-01 mecha was repaired. He finally decided that the only part of the fight that he would recall with any degree of fondness was the few short seconds he had fought alongside the Fourth angel. He had watched the video feed repeatedly during the debriefing, and the sight still stunned him. He couldn't quite believe that a hopeless wretch like him had pulled off such a badass stunt. He stared thoughtfully at his left arm that had briefly synchronized with his enigmatic protector and decided that he would decipher what the emotion was sooner or later.

"Yo Shinji-kun!" He slowed to a stop, as Misato's voice caught his attention. Her car pulled up in front of the escalators leading up to the middle school. The paint on the sports car looked seared on the driver's side, but it was remarkable that it was still operational after that harrowing encounter with the angel and an N2 explosion. His boss beamed as she popped open the passenger side door, and pulled out a black wheelchair, with an ultramarine knapsack slung over the back. "Make sure Rami-chan gets this, okay?"

Ikari spoke tersely, "Yes ma'am."

"Hey, I'm insulted! You just saved Tokyo-three from being leveled. I think you've earned the right to call me by my name."

Say what? "But I-I wouldn't dare."

"You'd better call me Misato, or else~," she teased her charge mercilessly. She winked as she ruffled his hair up playfully and got back in her car, "Seeya at testing after school. Have fun!" Her blue car soon shot off at least 60 km/hr over the speed limit.

Shinji sighed and somehow felt that fighting giant Angel monsters was going to be the least of his problems.

At the same moment, inside the building in room 2-A, now dressed in a blue and white blouse and skirt combination outfit with a red bow at the collar, Rami yawned and stretched out, finally finishing the transfer paperwork and work-study forms that the class representative had supplied. "Here you go. Thank you for helping me out, Horaki-san."

The pigtailed brunette girl with cute freckles across her cheeks shook her head, "Hikari is fine. Welcome to Tokyo-3 First Municipal middle school."

"My pleasure, Hikari-san. I'm Rami."

"Rami-san it is!" The girl's cheerful face quickly broke into a scowl as she saw two boys that she seemed to know all too well sauntered in. "Suzehara-kun, and Aida-kun. Why are you two stooges here so early?"

The light haired nerdy boy with round glasses pointed a finger at himself with a wide grin, "Who us? What would we possibly have up our sleeves?"

The athletic boy wearing his tracksuit with a crew cut crossed his arms and smirked insolently at Hikari.

The class rep waved them away dismissively, "Like I care to know. Go huddle in the corner and play with your toys."

The two boys sat together and the boy with the glasses and unruly hair excitedly recounted something to his friend, who looked more tolerant than interested. He kept glancing at Rami for some reason, as more of the class drifted in.

The class was about three quarters full with a minute to go to the late bell, and then Jadel blinked in surprise as she saw Ikari come in pushing her wheelchair. "Ikari-san. You didn't have to bring that back for my sake."

He smiled sheepishly as he averted his gaze, "Y-yeah, it's my fault it got left behind at the station. Misa…Captain Katsuragi went back for it, actually."

"Thank you." Rami blushed and beamed to this kind boy. With practiced movements, she shifted from the school's loaner chair back to her own custom model. Only then did they both notice the whole class was openly gawking at them.

The elderly teacher shuffled in just as the bell sounded. Both of the newcomers awkwardly sat by the windows by the teacher's podium as they were introduced.

…

Deep underground Misato threw another completed complaint form into the out box and made a disgusted sound as she saw the inbox pile was still twice as tall as the finished stack. At least the fight had been contained enough that civilian casualties within Tokyo-3 were relatively light. More mayhem inevitably meant more paperwork. Her mind still couldn't reconcile the fact that an angel's intervention had saved her from leveling half the city and being buried under a tsunami of extra paperwork.

Ritsuko cut into her foul mood as she came in, "Got time to hear the preliminary report, Misato?"

Misato was grateful for any interruption as her friend came in carrying two cups of the vilest coffee that humanity could conjure up. She smiled up to her blond-haired friend as she took one of the mugs, "What's the word, Ritsuko?"

Doctor Akagi pushed up her glasses, then took out a heavy blue translucent rock from her labcoat pocket and deposited it on Misato's cluttered desk, "A souvenir from last night's battle."

Katsuragi chuckled, "Don't you still have a million tests to run on it?"

"The tests are ongoing, but this one can be spared. The sweep team collected about three metric tons of the crystal fragments just like this one in a six block radius if you really want to start a collection." She smirked, "I just thought this one was symmetrical enough to make a decent paperweight for your desk."

"Thanks Ritsuko." She turned the dense fragment over in her hands as her expression turned introspective and brooding.

The doctor took another sip as she half sat on the desk lip, "I know that look. You're unsuccessfully trying to think of a logical explanation why an angel of all things would very nearly sacrifice its life to defend an Eva unit."

She sighed and dropped the fragment on the desk, where it made a satisfying thump. She shrugged, "Fine. You win, again. Insanity, maybe?"

"I've processed the data three times. Your hypothesis is statistically improbable at a 99% confidence level. Its attacks on the third angel were premeditated, deliberate, and precise. It even exposed its core to Unit One as it was shielding it. Those were not the acts of an erratic, unhinged being." Her eyes narrowed sharply, "It was protecting Unit One and its operator on purpose."

The captain mused over that thought unhappily. Ever since the Second Impact, she had sworn to kill every last angel sent to destroy humanity. A defector was the very last thing she would ever have anticipated. She had no game plan in place yet should this unruly angel make an unwelcome encore appearance. She silently decided that it paid to play it safe; to assume that it must be some sort of trap to lull them into trusting the enemy. After all, it was her destiny to destroy all of the angels and make them pay in blood for what they had done to her. "We'll need a contingency in place in case this thing decides to stab us in the back."

"Already set in motion." She handed over a manila folder, "Maya's findings, after running the raw data through Melchior."

Misato excitedly glanced through the report, and quickly slammed down her cup, coffee sloshing all over her desk, "I knew it! An AT field protected my car! Was there a consensus between the Magi supercomputers?"

"2 were affirmative, 1 was conditionally affirmative. Caspar as always has to be the outlier. It was an AT field that was too far away to be the third angel or either Units Zero or One."

"Ugh! That pesky Fourth angel again." Her cup froze in mid-motion halfway up to her mouth, "Wait, doesn't that that means it wasn't shielding Eva Unit One? She was still in cold storage in the cage while I was picking up Shinji-kun."

"Occam's razor would logically imply it was protecting the third child. Shinji was the only common element linking the two incidents." She waved before heading out the door and heading for the elevator leading back to her lab, leaving her friend to stew over the implications.

…

The day droned on, as Rami couldn't shake the feeling of being like a bug under a microscope as she constantly felt eyes on her. She tried to focus on the sensei's lecture about the Second Impact, but somehow the story of the meteorite impact rang strangely hollow. She looked down at the screen of her bulky red laptop and suddenly saw an IM screen pop up. All it said was "Were you the robot's pilot? Y/N."

She blinked in confusion and hit "N" with a shaky finger. She heard several girls five rows behind her sigh in disappointment. A second later a chorus of squeals interrupted the lecture just as the bell chimed, and half the class surrounded Ikari's desk peppering him with questions. She looked back at the IM window and then back to the mob, and realized he had gotten the same message she had. The poor sap had obviously answered "Y". Ikari was a mecha pilot? She broke into a broad grin, as the poor class rep tried in vain to corral the class. The teacher shrugged and walked out without receiving the traditional bow of respect.

A few hours later, Shinji was intensely grateful that two boys had dragged him off to an empty classroom for the lunch period to avoid another grilling session from his classmates. Several classes had already been consolidated in the mass evacuation following the battle that had damaged downtown Tokyo-3. He had asked if it was okay to include Jadel-san as well, as he felt a need to explain his unique situation to her as well.

The tall athletic boy hemmed and hawed and finally muttered under his breath, "Ikari...T-thanks. Ya saved the city."

The delicate boy smiled sheepishly and rubbed at his hair nervously, belatedly realizing that he wasn't about to get punched! "I...er…I didn't do it alone."

The friendly tan-haired boy cheerfully chimed in, "His bossy imouto ordered him to thank you, Ikari-san!"

"Leave my little sister outta this!" The jock snapped at his best friend, "Kensuke, so help me I'll deck ya!"

"Heh. Sorry." He grinned slyly and eagerly resumed making inquiries with an enthusiasm only a military otaku could conjure up, "So Ikari-san, the word on the street is that you had a combining mecha. Did you control the singing blue crystal lance too?"

Shinji blinked, "T-the what?"

Aida-san was giddy with excitement, "It was awesome. Your robot had a transforming flying blue sword. That is so cooooool! I'm jealous."

Shinji smiled nervously and shrugged, and mused to himself that he was mostly just glad that he hadn't died.

Rami giggled, "You're a pilot of a giant robot that saved Tokyo-3? That's amazing. I wish I could have seen the fight."

Ikari cringed in shame, "B-be glad you missed it. I did a full-fledged faceplant in a giant robot. It was pure humiliation!"

Kensuke beamed ear to ear, swinging a wooden meter stick like a sword, "Until whoosh...right through the monster's heart! Kaaaa-booom!"

The athletic boy rolled his eyes at his best friend's antics, "I'm Suzehara Toji. The maniac playing soldier over there is Kensuke."

Where were her manners? She stuck out her hand cheerfully, "I'm Jadel Rami. It's pleasure to make your acquaintance. My job here is to take care of the school grounds!"

Both of the classmates looked confused at her outstretched hand, and bowed stiffly in response.

"I'm I-Ikari Shinji." He tore open his melon bread wrapper, and hoped no one would pay too much attention to him. He wasn't worth it anyway.

Rami glanced over at Ikari and wondered why he was so withdrawn and reticent. She filed the thougt away for later and quickly noticed Suzehara's ample lunch was wrapped up in a pink cloth. He must have someone who likes him, she mused to herself as they all started to share a meal, and hopefully friendship.


	3. Chapter 3-Trial and Error

**Chapter 3-Trial and Error**

After the last bell had rung, Ikari waved to Jadel and headed outside so he could make his way back down the hill to the surface NERV entrance that would open up with his newly issued magnetic swipe card. Much to his shock he saw a white '99 Toyota Celica pull up in the faculty parking lot, and an older dignified man dressed in a brown slacks and matching Nehru jacket with swept back grey hair got out and headed directly towards the school side entrance. It was Vice-Commander Fuyutsuki. Shinji stood at attention and saluted stiffly, causing several nearby girls to break out into amused titters.

The second in command of NERV looked down at the Third child with weary brown eyes. The boy really did look a lot like a teenage version of his father, the ex-professor mused unhappily, and sincerely hoped Shinji would emulate his late and deeply lamented mother Yui instead of his broken father Gendo. "Ikari. Good luck on your tests this afternoon. I'll leave you in Captain Katsuragi's capable hands."

"T-thank you sir," he stammered awkwardly. "Umm…were you here about me? You didn't have to go through the trouble." The boy was quietly amazed that off the clock, his father's normally stoic right hand man was surprisingly pleasant.

The very corners of his mouth nearly formed a smile at the lad's earnestness not to be a burden on others. "Katsuragi-san has been delegated to seeing after your civilian life, not me. I'm here to see the niece of an old student of mine. A girl in your class named Jadel Rami."

Shinji stewed inwardly as to how his new classmate was tied with his superior.

Fuyutsuki finally displayed a thin-lipped smile as he noted Ikari's obvious frown, "Is that a problem?"

"Oh. No of course not. H-have a nice day sir." It was beginning to dawn on Shinji that his web of acquaintances were more interconnected than he had first suspected.

"See you around, Ikari-san." He entered the building as curious students watched.

Shinji walked down the hill alone listening to his SDAT player and wondered if that strange girl was as lonely and adrift in this shiny new city as he was.

…

"How is the tea, Doctor?"

Fuyutsuki Kozo sighed softly as Rami made a fuss over him. The last time he had seen her and her sunny rotund uncle Jadel Aarif in Neo-Dubai, she was a cheerful 6 year old girl in a wheelchair larger than she was. "It's fine, Jadel-chan." Part of the table in the cozy loft style caretaker's apartment had been converted into a temporary workbench. He saw she had been industriously shaping a small cobalt shard into a teardrop shaped pendant with a nail file. A small coil of silver wire had been bent with pliers to form a cage for the gemstone. Of course he refrained from mentioning that it was doubtless a relic from the rogue forth angel.

Rami wheeled back to the table and poured a second cup, pleased that she hadn't spilled a drop despite her uncoordinated limbs. "Thanks for helping me out. My dear uncle would be proud beyond words that his old Sensei would take me under his wing."

He took a sip of the expertly brewed tea as he handed the documents for Rami to sign. "Unfortunately my responsibilities at NERV mean that we won't be sharing quarters. I'm sorry about that."

"Oh. No worries Fuyutsuki-sensei. I'm just happy to have a place to stay. I'll do my best to live up to your expectations." Her eyes widened as he passed her a framed photograph of the professor, her uncle, and Rami as a small child in front of a silver abstract sculpture by the Gulf shoreline. Despite her best efforts not to, tears were almost immediately running down the girl's cheeks. "Oh by the Allmighty! Thank you. I miss him so much." She impulsively gave the surprised doctor a warm embrace.

He hugged her back, and patted her shoulders, "I'm sorry I couldn't come when he got sick. My responsibilities kept me chained here."

"I-its not your fault, sir. He appreciated the letters and the cards you sent. I saved every one, so I'd always remember your kindness. He always told me that his collaboration with you and Miss Ikari at Tokyo University before the Second Impact were the happiest of his life." She beamed at him, and was intensely touched. Suddenly she remembered with a jolt that the boy she had just befriended in her class was named Ikari too.

Fuyutsuki saw a light in this kind girl that reminded him more than a little of his precious student who he had adored unreservedly. "You'll find your place in this world Jadel-chan. I'll do whatever I can to help."

Rami nodded and blushed slightly as she poured out a second cup for him.

…

Still in his school outfit, Shinji stared up at Unit-01 towering far above him as technicians knocked off the impromptu crystal cast on his cyborg's left arm with jackhammers so they attach replacement wrist armor. He was enraptured at the Beethoven lush music, and conveniently walled out the outside world and discouraged any base personnel from bothering him. He jumped as he felt a tap on his shoulder. He switched off his player and blinked at Katsuragi.

Misato was saddened to see he was still keeping everyone at arm's length. "Hey there." She managed a slight smile. "Settling in okay?"

Ikari nodded silently and fidgeted, and reluctantly ventured out on a limb, "Ma'am, why did she help me?"

The captain's eyes widened slightly, "Are you talking about Jadel-san?"

"No!" He flushed. "T-the Fourth angel."

Misato managed with effort to hide her surprise and inner irritation at any kind of human-like traits being applied to her nemesis. "Good question. I wish I had a good answer. Ritsuko told me that the Angels are effectively sexless and inhuman. Neither gender nor morality mean anything to them. They're dangerous and would destroy humanity in a heartbeat if given the chance."

Shinji's hands tightly clenched the railing and he sighed deeply in defeat, "I know you think I'm an idiot for trusting that creature. Everyone thinks I'm stupid."

"I don't think that at all. I wasn't in the cockpit, seconds away from dying. You made a snap decision and it paid off." She faced away from the Evangelion and leaned back against the railing. "What I do want to know is why you put your faith in our mortal enemy."

"I felt it when it wrapped around my Eva's arm, and our AT fields intertwined. It wasn't a voice but a feeling."

"Oh? What feeling was that?" Now her curiosity was piqued.

"N-nothing."

She gave him a withering look, "Shinji~"

He reflexively clenched and unclenched his left hand as he examined the platform grating, "L-Like it wanted to hug me." His blush intensified, "T-that sounds crazy, I know."

Misato couldn't resist a little ribbing. She shook her head grinning, "You're a special boy. It's no wonder you have a secret admirer!"

"Excuse me." The humiliated boy groaned and yet again, utterly failed to hide his embarrassment as he retreated, "I'm changing into my plug suit, ma'am. See you in the test room."

A few minutes later Dr. Ristsuko Akagi looked over the data stream over Maya's shoulder as Unit-01 activated. "Sync ratio of 45.8%. Every time Ikari gets in the Eva, the rate creeps higher."

Her brown-haired underling looked up at her mentor and beamed. "He's amazing. Rei hasn't ever cleared 40% in Unit one. He's the perfect pilot for this Eva."

Misato frowned slightly as she looked at the freshly repaired purple giant through a panoramic window, "Numbers aren't the whole story. He's been ripped from his comfortable life and thrown into the middle of a war." She crossed her arms and sighed, "I can't imagine what he's going through."

Another one of the techs wearing black framed plastic glasses piped up, "But captain, intelligence says he's made friends at the local middle school. Two boys named Aida and Suzehara, and a girl named Jadel."

Misato acknowledged the assistant with a smile, "Thanks for the update, Hyuga-san. Jadel-san, huh?" She activated the comlink, "Shinji, can you hear me?"

"Yes, Ma'am."

"Are you getting used to the feeling of your Eva yet?"

"Yes." Inside the bright lit entry plug, in a skintight blue and white plug suit Shinji tested out the handgrips and felt much more assured of his movements. Ikari hated the momentary sensation of drowning every time that detested LCL fluid filled his cockpit and lungs. It always smelled faintly odd as well. It didn't do much good to complain though; he had sworn to himself that he would never run away again. He didn't want to see his classmates or that badly hurt Ayanami girl to die because of his cowardice. "It gets easier every time."

"Great. Start by aiming your gun at the mock target. Remember to center your target in the HUD crosshairs and fire. If your AT field is strong enough, the shells should penetrate the Angel's defenses."

"Before we start, is Ayanami-san okay?"

Katsuragi rapidly broke into a huge grin, and giggled deviously, "Inquiring minds want to know?"

"Erk! Well I-I'm just curious is all!" He was grateful the cool LCL fluids rapidly conducted the heat from his burning cheeks. "S-she was so badly hurt…"

Ristsuko toggled her own link open, "She was just discharged from NERV ICU to step down unit 5, Shinji."

The captain winked to her friend, "Feel free to visit her if you get a chance, Shinji! Bring flowers. Girls always like getting flowers as gifts!"

Maya stifled an amused laugh. Hyuga Makoto seemed to be seriously considering something.

"Well I can get some easily enough. Jadel-san is good with plants." He knew that she was a kind girl and would happily spare flowers from the school garden. Ikari thought for a second and asked in a softer voice as he felt a twinge of guilt for taking advantage of his inside information, "Captain, do you know what's wrong with her legs?"

"According to her medical records she has ataxic cerebral palsy. It's a congenital muscle coordination problem. Her mind is unaffected though. She was a straight A student from her schooldays in the Reunited Arab Emirates." She decided to stop teasing the 14 year old, as she knew all too well that he was still too shy to ask his classmate personal questions directly. "Let's begin. First target is on its way. Get ready."

"Yes ma'am!" He watched the simulated holographic Tokyo-3 appear around him, clutched the handgrips and murmured in a monotone, "Center the target, and pull the trigger. Center the target and pull the trigger. Center the target…"

…

By the end of her first week in Tokyo-3, Rami smiled broadly in the fading sunlight as she hit the remote that activated the in-ground sprinkler system in the grassy fields and flowerbeds arrayed around the school. It had taken hours of effort, and her disability made things harder, but she was determined to earn her keep.

"Jadel-san?"

She wheeled around and happily smiled at the bashful teen in front of her, "Hey Ikari-san. Did you come to admire my handiwork?"

He smiled awkwardly and sat down on a nearby bench and offered the girl a canned ice tea. "Did you plant d-daisies too?"

"Thanks for the drink!" She gulped at it thirstily, and drained it in seconds. "You need some to decorate your secret base?"

Shinji's blue eyes widened, but then understanding dawned. "Um...I guess?" It hit him only at that moment that he really did live in a secret base. He rubbed at the back of his sweaty hair awkwardly and inwardly chastised his cowardice for it taking an entire week to work up the nerve to ask for the flowers from his classmate, "The flowers are for Ayanami, actually."

"Is she a pilot too?"

The boy nodded gravely. "She was the girl we saw before the third angel attacked."

"Wow! Really?" She wheeled forwards and grasped Shinji's hands in hers, "How is she doing? Was she badly hurt?" She felt a harsh twinge of jealousy that her friend's fellow pilot was so exotic and pretty, unlike her own permanently crippled body!

He gasped at the unexpected contact, and broke free too hastily. He chided himself as he saw Jadel's expression fall. "S-she's recovering. I'm visiting her in the NERV hospital."

She sighed softly, feeling dejected as she knew that as a civilian she couldn't go with him. She forced a smile, "Take some black-eyed-Susan's from that planter over there. There's a vase over there too that I was going to use in the Teacher's room." She handed over a woven black rope necklace with a blue crystal attached to it with a twisted silver wire, "Take this too. This is a souvenir from your first victory."

Shinji looked over the handsome handmade gift, and was truly humbled and at a loss. He had hazy memories of warm human contact with his mother as a toddler; he hadn't known real kindness since her loss. He looked away feeling that anything he could say would inevitably come up short, "Thank you very much, Jadel-san." He bowed deeply, feeling ill at ease as he belatedly realized that being around Jadel was starting to stir up his rowdy hormones.

She bowed a bit unsteadily and smiled. She waved to Shinji as he departed out of her reach, "Be safe! Seeya on Monday!" After he was out of sight she wheeled off as fast as she could, and burst into tears as soon as she was in the equipment shed. It just wasn't fair. She knew he would never see her as anything more than a classmate, she fumed to herself as she pounded the shed wall repeatedly with an unsteady fist.

…

In a deep underground hospital room a heavily bandaged Ayanami Rei stared at an all too familiar ceiling with a blank expression. She had endured multiple injuries working with the intensive training program, and then the incident where the Eva Unit 00 she was piloting went out of control with her in the cockpit. She pondered silently about the strange boy who seemed to be scared to death of his father's life's work, yet he agreed to pilot it to prevent her sortie out in Unit 01 in his place. Why did he concern himself with a soulless puppet like her?

"A-ayanami-san?"

Her only uncovered crimson eye remained fixated on the ceiling, as she heard the timid boy enter, "Yes?"

"P-pardon the intrusion. I hope you're feeling better."

"My injuries are healing, Ikari-san."

She still looked like a truck had run over her, but she still looked much better to Shinji's eyes compared to the last time they had met. "Good to hear. I brought some flowers f-for you. Jadel-san says hi as well."

Ayanami lay perfectly still, "I do not recognize that name, Ikari-san."

Shinji felt faintly embarrassed, and couldn't place exactly why, as he set up the vase on a nightstand. Jadel was just a friend, right? Days after meeting her for the first time, he still had a bad habit of gawking awkwardly at her unsteady arms and heavy leg braces. Despite every effort to keep his distance he was starting to feel faint stirrings of camaraderie with her. He suddenly realized he had been quiet for too long. "Uh, yeah. Jadel-san was the tan-skinned girl with the black hair in the wheelchair that you saw next to me on the edge of Tokyo-three a week ago."

He was unnerved to see her single eye now regarding him with a cool, emotionless gaze, "I was not on the outskirts of Tokyo-three the day you arrived with your associate. I was in the hospital in NERV headquarters the entire day, except for the twenty minute interval when I was transported up to the cage to pilot Unit One."

Shinji felt his mouth fall open, "Y-you mean the first time we met was when I arrived at HQ?"

"Yes."

He felt like such an idiot, as usual. "Uhhh...never mind. My mistake."

Her eye went back to examining the ceiling, "Do not concern yourself."

"Enjoy the flowers, Ayanami-san. See you later."

Her voice was quietly resigned, "Farewell, Ikari-san."

He beat a hasty, flushed retreat, feeling beside himself. What the hell had happened? Had he hallucinated the whole thing? Was he going crazy?

Long after he was gone, Rei stared quizzically at the pretty ceramic vase with yellow flowers with brown centers poking out of it, pondering what on Earth its purpose was.

Five minutes later as Ikari entered his Spartan quarters in Sublevel 3 an indignant Misato seated on the bed groused, "What the hell is this?"

He quickly recovered from his surprise as he knew his boss could track him anywhere. "Uhhh. It's my room, Captain."

Katsuragi glared around the room that housed windowless grey walls, a single bed, a desk and swivel chair, and a pocket-sized bathroom and toilet stall. It wasn't fit to house a gerbil, much less one of humanity's greatest defenders! "I told you to call me Misato, remember? How can you stand to live in this rathole?"

He shrugged as he sat down on the swivel chair paired with a metal study desk in the quarters assigned to him by his father. As always he passively went with the flow. "What difference does it make?"

"Pack up your stuff! I'm giving you a free room upgrade!"

"Yes ma'am!" He carefully folded five shirts, three plain t-shirts, underwear, socks, two spare pair of pants, and his gym outfit in his duffel. He filed his school supplies away in his bookbag, along with his SDAT player. It took him less than five minutes to finish packing.

Misato groaned softly. "I need to take you out shopping sometime! No one should have these few possessions."

He looked gravely at her as he shouldered his bag and shrugged indifferently.

Misato was inwardly worried about her ward, but decided that it was better to keep up a cheerful facade, "Let's go Shinji!"


	4. Chapter 4-Unmasked

**Chapter 4-Unmasked**

In the cool morning air, Rami smiled as she finished pruning a shrubbery by the back entrance to the school, "Much better." She was pleased with her handiwork around the campus, and was finally feeling better about her one-sided crush on Ikari-san. Of course she had spend most of the following week crying into her pillow at night and keeping up the pretense of acting like nothing was amiss in class. She had only confided her true feelings to Hikari-san, who promised to keep it a secret. The class rep truly was a considerate friend, and had even had a sleepover on occasion to keep Rami company in the eerie emptiness of the school at night. She sighed and couldn't keep her thoughts from being clouded over. She knew it wouldn't do for a nice boy like him to show any interest in a flawed girl like her. She was resigned to the idea that the shy boy would surely find Ayanami-san or a pretty schoolgirl who wasn't stuck in a wheelchair to catch his fancy. Eating lunch everyday with him and the two boys who had taken a shine to him was enough for her. She could live with being just his friend, even if the feeling made her heart twinge.

"Jadel-san."

The voice directly behind her was so unexpected, that she yelped in surprise. She spun the chair around and was face to face with a bandaged girl in uniform with eerie pale skin, a piercing red eye and carelessly groomed light blue hair. Her arm was in a sling and one of her eyes was covered up with an eyepatch. She stammered, "A-ayanami-san! Can I help you?"

Her oblivious rival held up a withered remnant of a flower with a single yellow petal remaining, "You gave this to Ikari-san, correct?"

Rami gaped dumbfounded at the dead plant, "Uh, yeah I did. Did you like the black-eyed-Susan's?"

Ayanami looked thoughtfully at the flower as the last petal fell softly to the earth, and then nodded solemnly.

"Great! Call me Rami. I'll give you some more after school."

"Farewell, Jadel-san." She left without a further word.

At lunch, predictably both Suzehara and Aida were drooling over Rei as Shinji shook his head at the idiots he had to put up with, as he eagerly chowed down on Rami's homemade falafel wrap. "Ayanami-san is just a fellow pilot to me. I hardly know her."

Kensuke made a mock pout, "It just isn't fair. Shinji gets to work with a totally bodacious babe at work, bunks with another at her apartment, and eats lunch with a third at school." He secretly winked to Jadel.

Jadel felt like wheeling herself off the roof as she turned around and rooted in her backpack to hide her deep mortification. Please Allah, don't let Shinji notice, she prayed.

Ikari flushed at the crack, but failed to pick up on his friend's embarrassment, "L-look! It was Captain Katsuragi's idea to move me into her place, not mine, Kensuke-kun!" He desperately tried to change the course of the conversation, "Its chaos incarnate over there!"

Toji sneered, "Typical Shinji-kun. Too busy cooking and cleaning after captain Be-still-my-heart, to see the babes right under his nose."

Rami finally calmed her racing heart as she realized gratefully that Ikari-san was in the spotlight and not her. She giggled, and asked after munching on her wrap, "Is your boss really that disorganized?"

Ikari quietly rolled his eyes in exasperation and muttered softly, "You have no idea." In the last week, after getting into a screaming match with Dr. Akagi over her impulsive plan, Katsuragi had uprooted him from his lifeless room in NERV HQ and dumped him into an apartment that could have doubled for a garbage dump. Misato was so authoritative and poised on the job; but at her place, a switch was thrown, and she acted like a college party girl by downing inedible instant noodle cups and beers every night. That crazy pet penguin she kept was just the cherry atop the sundae. It was a wonder she hadn't died of malnutrition or alcohol poisoning before he became her legal ward, and had taken over most of the housekeeping chores. He declined to elaborate further as his cell phone suddenly vibrated. He picked it up and flipped it open. He read the text, and his face suddenly paled, "Oh no."

In the near distance, air raid sirens started to wail! They all stared at each other for a few stunned seconds before Ikari bolted out the door, "Another angel is coming! Get to the shelter, guys! Hurry!"

Toji turned to Rami, "Jadel-san, I'll get you down to the sub-basement!"

She nodded quickly, "I'll just slow you down. Go report to Hikari and get the class down into the shelter. I'll be at the top of stairwell two when you've finished the evacuation."

"Right." The two boys rushed out, and she wheeled down the hallway, her heart thumping wildly. In the far distance, she saw massive skyscrapers start to retract into the earth. Just as she reached the top of the stairs, she felt a wave of nausea and dizziness as she felt an unholy presence rapidly approach. She murmured in a daze, "Please…Shamshel, don't hurt Shinji-kun!" She spilled out of her chair and blacked out on the floor.

…

Hikari barked at her friends as they raced down the ground floor hallway, "You really are the three stooges! What you mean you left her behind!"

Toji muttered, "Jadel-san said we had to take care of the school evacuation first."

"Baka Toji-kun! She's my best friend!"

The stopped at the base of stairwell 2 when they noticed a dark shadow overtook the entire campus grounds. Kensuke stepped forward tentatively, with his video camera out. "I wonder what's out there? Is that an eclipse?" He stepped out and suddenly fell backwards to the ground, a look of slack-jawed amazement on his face.

Hikari ran out in a panic, "Aida-san!" Her head snapped up at the massive object looming over the school complex. Her mind boggled at the sight of a skyscraper high cobalt crystal octahedron hovering just above the school gardens! "Aiiieeeeeeeeee!" She collapsed backwards into Toji's arms.

…

Down in the cage, Unit 01 finished powering up and was locked into its transport restraints. A massive Gatling cannon was bolted into the weapons slot by his right side. He took deep breaths as he knew that fifth angel he was going to intercept was hurtling towards Tokyo-3 at 200 km/hr. His Eva was cleared to the mid-city tower X-14 as soon as the opponent was in AT field range. His hand brushed against the good luck charm Rami had given to him. The technicians had quizzically stared at his new pendant, but despite his embarrassment, he vowed to use any bit of good karma he could find. As his displays harmonized to his brainwaves, Katsuragi's fuming face suddenly appeared as an inset picture, "Damnit Shinji, that stupid Fourth angel is back!"

"What?"

"It's floating right over your school! We can't use the intercept missiles on it without severe collateral damage. There are 300 plus of your schoolmates and teachers in the shelter underneath. We're rerouting your destination to M-3 to intercept!"

Shinji gulped, but felt a strange surge of exhilaration under his terror. "Copy that Captain!"

"Eva Unit One launch!"

Ikari felt the g-force that would crush him if he wasn't immersed in that awful liquid, as he hurtled up from the ground. Seconds later, his Eva snapped to a crashing halt just behind a hinged door that trundled down. He plucked up the cannon, and was surprised to see as he exited that he was next to a cliff covered with trees that barely reached his mecha's knees. Directly in his line of sight was the Municipal middle school. Hovering over Rami's immaculate flowerbeds hung a giant blue crystal angel. He gaped at the Fourth angel again dumbly for several seconds before Misato cut in.

"Okay target is in sight! Center the crosshairs and pull the trigger to fire!"

Feeling like he was about to shoot a friend in the back, the boy reluctantly activated the cannon and hefted its massive multi-ton weight like it was a toy. A glowing triangular reticule appeared in the center of his viewscreen and lit up red with the text, "Target solution acquired."

"Shoot the angel down. Hurry! Remember the Fifth angel is on the way."

Warning chimes sounded and a warning icon lit up on the right side of Shinji's viewscreen. He looked over and a zoom-in revealed three of his classmates staring with stunned expressions up at the angel.

Holographic displays lit up with files showing school ID pictures of Suzehara Toji, Aida Kensuke and Horaki Hikari next to Misato. She cursed her rotten luck, "Damn it to hell! Why aren't those kids in the shelter?" She barked over the comlink, "Shinji hold your fire! Your classmates are down there!"

Shinji muttered under his breath, reengaged the safety with a shaking hand, and then activated the loudspeakers on Unit 01, "Toji-san, Kensuke-san, class rep! It's me Shinji! Run for the shelter! Go!"

Rami abruptly woke up to pain and misery with her head in a fog. Where was she? She couldn't see clearly, and her arms or legs were immobile and completely numb. All around her was a liquid crimson haze. She faintly heard a booming voice.

"Run away from the monster, guys! Move!"

It was Ikari's voice. The person she treasured the most. She tried to cry out his name but all that came out of her mouth was a wavering musical scream.

Shinji recoiled as the Angel finally came to life with a bellowing roar that was sung rather than yelled. The pressure wave from the sound bent saplings over, and sent a gust of wind across the schoolyard. His dumbstruck classmates finally took the hint and bolted back into the school. He growled and shouted at the angel directly in mounting frustration, "Don't you dare touch my friends! If you do, I'll destroy you!"

Rami shook her head, recoiling from those cruel words. Her eyes focused and she realized she was suspended in a vast crimson space bathed in a translucent fluid. Pulsing lights traveled up and down thousands of tendrils attached to the exterior of her spherical prison. She looked and her eyes widened with horror as she saw hundreds of them converged into single cables terminating in her shoulders and upper legs in place of her limbs. In front of her a curved screen showed a giant purple robot several hundred meters away pointed a wicked looking cannon right at her. She gasped as she looked to her left and saw the school buildings. By her unconscious command the CCTV cameras monitoring the school flashed inset pictures showing an inhuman, titanic image of a floating cobalt geometric solid instead of a girl behind the school. She was the angel Ramiel! Tears pooled in her eyes as she shrieked and floated down the steep hillside directly for Shamshel, the new angel that was bearing down on Tokyo-3.

Hyuga's eyes lit up with alarm, "The Fourth angel is on the move. It's heading on an intercept course for the fifth angel."

Katsuragi hated this crystal maniac, as she relayed new orders, "Shinji, follow the forth angel. Keep it away from the geofront at all costs."

"Roger that! Ejecting power cable!" Attached to his giant's back, the power socket was spat out, and used built-in rocket engines to slow its decent before it thudded to the ground. The Eva switched its 5 minute internal battery supply as Shinji thundered down the mountainside shattering roadbeds with each step, but doing his best not to level houses along the way.

Inside the lobby, Kensuke kept the film rolling on the awe-inspiring sight of a giant robot in hot pursuit in a huge crystalline monster, until Hikari snatched it away. "Class rep!"

"Enough! We have to find Rami-san!"

Kensuke sighed and exchanged nods with Toji. However all they found at the top of the stairs was an empty wheelchair.

Rami screamed and screamed as she careened closer and closer to the squid-shaped burgundy monster heading towards what she had once proudly considered to be her home. Everything was ruined. Everything. In her impotent fury she saw bands of light illuminate the equatorial segment of the outer edges of her crystal shell accompanied by a swelling roar.

Aoba barked out to Misato, "Fourth angel has stopped moving. There's a high energy reading building up inside it."

Katsuragi looked up at the insane display of two angels going head to head for the second time in a month. "Shinji put up your AT field and take cover!"

At the edge of the city, Ikari gasped as he saw a dazzling white beam of light lance into the new angel, knocking it into a heavily forested hillside.

Dressed in lab coat over her blue blouse and black skirt, Ritsuko turned up to her boss and pleaded, "Commander! We have to eliminate the Fourth angel. It's gone insane."

Commander Ikari Gendo looked at the battle displays in HQ with a smug smirk with his dark sunglasses nearly hiding his cold blue eyes, "No need Doctor Akagi. We still have uses for it."

The Fifth angel levitated out of the flattened section of forest, and malevolently turned towards its new stationary target, the massive hole in its mantle rapidly healing over. Both angels casually shrugged off the effects of hundreds of missiles rebounding off their luminescent orange octagonal AT fields.

Rami laughed insanely as she felt Samshel's naked hatred over her betrayal to her fellow angels, and saw it head straight at her with glowing white hot tendrils emerging from short arms beneath its 'head'. Her voice was converted into unearthly wails but she screamed at her opponent to give her its best shot. Pulsing white light from the outer core reflected off her crystal tear-stained cheeks.

Hyuga shook his head with disbelief. "The Fourth angel just took out a large part of the Fifth angel with a particle beam weapon. The two angels are reengaging each other."

Ritsuko confirmed the data from the Magi, "It must have a huge reactor inside that massive shell."

"Another high energy reading is building from inside the Fourth angel," Aoba warned.

Katsuragi grimly watched as Unit 1 approached the edge of the battle site with 2 minutes power in reserve. "Cease missile barrage. Hold back Shinji. Let them kill each other."

"Yes ma'am!" Shinji watched in awe as another brilliant beam shot out from the shrieking blue angel severing one of the opponent's tentacles cleanly off and vaporizing large parts of its head. He winced as he saw the dark violet angel take the brutal attack and then it rammed its remaining glowing cord deep into the Fourth angel. He felt a stabbing pain in his midsection as he felt phantom echoes of Forth angel's pain. The blue crystal resting atop his plug suit chestplate lit up brightly in a ghostly blue light. The pain flared and he realized that his friend needed him, angel or no. He growled between clenched teeth, "Center the target, and pull the trigger!" The giant Gatling gun spun up and shells the size of 55 gallon drums shot downrange into the exposed belly of the Fifth angel; the ejected brass casings spilled out of the massive cannon all around the Eva's feet, where they bashed over trees, and embedded themselves into the mountainside.

Misato was flabbergasted. Why was Shinji acting like the Fourth angel was on humanity's side? She roared in frustration, "Shinji, stop firing!"

Shinji yelled at he strode forwards, cannon ablaze, emptying his rage at the monster that was trying to eviscerate his friend. With under a minute of power left he pulsed his AT field out, and felt that familiar presence again. He winced as he felt the angel's pain and despair rattling through his mind, but he was determined to save it.

The Fifth angel burrowed its tentacle directly towards the traitorous' angel red core, but the Eva's attacks interrupted the killing blow. A giant flash of light suddenly erupted from the bleeding crystal angel and perforated the Fifth's angel's core. Samshel roared and toppled backwards, with a clean hole through its vital core, and its belly shredded open by Unit 01's fire.

The blue crystal bled out of a three meter diameter hole in one of its facets. Inside Rami sobbed uncontrollably. Why wasn't an abomination like her dead? She suddenly felt Ikari's warmth enveloping her. She screamed one last time and fled. She didn't deserve to be his friend! The crystal reconfigured into its aerodynamic kite form and shot off into the woods.

Shinji stood motionless, as he stared at the Fifth's angel's upturned corpse like a dead fly. Unit-1 lowered the smoking cannon, and went into a crouch as the batteries were depleted, and entered shutdown mode. Once the adrenaline rush faded and the Third child regained his breath, he looked in numb realization at the pendant his friend had bestowed on him. Once the glow from his necklace faded out, his wide eyes gaped in horror at the darkened viewscreen in front of him. It couldn't be true could it? "Oh God, I nearly killed you." Alone he spoke in a whisper as his tears of contrition leaked into the cockpit fluid, "J-Jadel-san, I'm…so…sorry."


	5. Chapter 5-Hedgehog's Dilemma

**Chapter 5-Hedgehog's Dilemma**

Rami groaned as her heavy eyelids fluttered open. She instantly recognized that she was in a hospital bed, from the clammy, plastic mattress to the side rails, to the IV line and pressure cuff attached to her left arm. The white walls were cluttered with monitors and other equipment. She could hear the hiss of a summer rain shower clatter against the window. So she wasn't dead after all. It would have been better if she had been killed by Samshel. She could never face Ikari again, after realizing what a horrid creature she was. Then she spied the flowers, and her self destructive thoughts ground to a halt. In a simple vase was a bunch of black-eyed-Susan's. She sat up, despite the intense pain in her side, and gawked at them.

"I'm a hedgehog, Jadel-san."

She twisted around and stared in disbelief as the Third child softly closed the door behind him. He was dressed for the muggy heat in a sleeveless white t-shirt, navy shorts and white sneakers. The blue pendant in a silver cage hung around his neck. She dropped her gaze in shame as he deposited a wet black umbrella in the corner. She hugged herself and started to shiver, as she had nightmares about this reunion. "I-i-ikari…san."

His solemn blue eyes looked at her with sadness and empathy. "You are Ramiel, the angel of thunder." It was a flat statement of fact.

She collapsed back into the rock hard pillows, and nodded, as tears stained her cheeks.

He tentatively sat at the edge of the bed and handed over a packet of paper tissues with a melancholy expression, "I'm glad to thank my guardian angel in person at last. Thank you for saving my life twice already. You've done so much to help me, and I have nothing but empty words to offer you."

Rami trembled as she lost control of her suppressed emotions like a ruptured dam. She threw her arms around the slender boy's neck and bawled onto his shoulder. "I-I'm a monster! I was born to destroy mankind!"

Shinji tried desperately to extricate himself from the crushing hug, but her grip was far too tight. His face was now beet red, but after agonizing moments of hesitation, he gave up on struggling. He still couldn't work up the nerve to hug her back, but he did his best to encourage her. Given that she'd valiantly fought by his side twice, he would get over his damn timidity for her sake. He examined the rain rattling on the window so he could focus, "Katsuragi-san once told me that hedgehogs are stuck with an unwinnable problem; every time they try to get close to another, their spines will pierce each other."

Rami nodded in agreement, still crying, "I-i am a hedgehog too, Ikari-san."

His heart was pounding wildly. Had ever been hugged by girl like this before? A few seconds later, he realized he hadn't. She was so warm and she smelled so nice too; a tiny part of his brain whispered not to let her go. He clenched his jaw and realized he was going to say or do something stupid if he let his adolescent mind spin away from him. Still he needed to say something, "C-call me Shinji. I think we can go with given names now."

Why was he treating a wretched monster like herself with such tenderness? She exhaled and forced the words out, "S-shinji-kun. I'm Rami."

"Rami-san." He chuckled awkwardly. He privatly thought it was a beautiful name.

She finally awkwardly released him, and wiped her eyes. Even if the hedgehog spines pieced her heart, she had no regrets save that she had hurt her dear friend. She looked at him hopelessly, realizing that physical contact caused her dear friend distress. She looked adrift, "Shinji-kun, what do I d-do?"

He managed a slight smile, "D-do you want to continue to help me fight the other angels?"

Rami nodded vigorously, "I know what I am, but I also know that I would rather die than kill you or our friends! I will forever stand at your side!"

Shinji smiled sincerely, "Then I'll keep your secret." She was one of the very few nice things that have come into his life.

Rami was speechless, so she settled for simply nodding as the tears started to flow again.

…

The unsettled weather continued for the rest of the week as Jadel slowly healed from her battle wounds. She was touched that Shinji and Hikari came to see her on a daily basis. Hikari fed her some of her homemade bentos every day after school. In the evenings, sometimes late into the night, Shinji had seen to it that she was kept up to date on their schoolwork, and even filled out her worksheets under her dictation using his precise handwriting. She noted to herself with a touch of sadness that his script was so constrained, that it wouldn't surprise her in the slightest if he had ever confessed to her that he never once colored outside the lines in a coloring book as a child. Toji and Kensuke also came to visit a few times, and proudly showed her the Angel battle footage. Dr. Fuyutsuki stopped by and gave her some of his precious time to encourage her to recover quickly. She realized quickly that he was quite a kind man under his stoic exterior. To her great shock, the day before her discharge Rei herself paid her a brief visit. The NERV pilot said very little, but her presence alone spoke volumes to Jadel.

On the day of her release, she was shocked to see Captain Katsuragi had signed her out. After switching back to her t-shirt and slacks, she wearily wheeled out to the entrance where Misato's gleaming sports car sat bathed in the fluorescent lights.

"Heya kid! Ready to go?"

"Sure thing Captain Katsuragi."

The pretty lady shook her head, "Misato is fine." She opened the passenger door and deftly hefted Rami into the seat. She quickly folded the wheelchair up and stowed it behind the seat. After getting in herself and gunning the car out the entrance ramp, she smiled at the student. "Mind if we make a detour, Rami-chan?"

"Hmm?" She looked up. "Sure." She wondered where exactly they were going, but didn't have long to wait. The car quickly crested the cliffside parkway near the middle school. Misato turned into an overlook so they could both behold the modern miracle of Tokyo-3. Despite the overcast sky, the view was truly magnificent. In the center, were hundred story towers ringed by innumerable defense platforms, and exit sockets designed to deliver the giant robots into the thick of battle. At the edges of the massive city were lower rise buildings and residential complexes. Red lights flashed at the top of the towers as a warning to low flying aircraft. Considering two battles had been fought here in the last few weeks, there was remarkably little visible damage other than the devastated hillside on the outskirts of the city where Sachiel had been bombed with an N2 mine.

Misato looked moodily introspective, "This is the reason I fight. NERV battles to protect this bastion and refuge for humanity. We fight and destroy the angels because no one else can do it."

Jadel nodded seriously, and inwardly shuddered at the implication as she was one of those horrible angels herself. "I know Ikari-san has a tough job in the hot seat. I wish I could do more to help him."

The captain gave Jadel a fixed gaze that made her shaking hands tremble more than normal. "You did help him take out angels Three and Five, right? I'd say you helped a lot."

"W-what?"

Misato sighed as she hated tormenting this obviously sweet girl, but she felt she had no choice to forge ahead. The continued existence of humanity itself was riding on what she would say here! "I know who you really are. Your guardian Dr. Fuyutsuki told me your real name is Ramiel."

Rami's face went nearly white, "R-r-ramiel?"

The captain gently took her trembling hand in hers. "I'm not here to condemn you, Rami-chan, but I need to understand you. You saved Shinji at least twice, and nearly killed yourself the last time by throwing yourself into the path of angel number five."

"H-how did you figure it out?"

"We just added up the facts. You were unaccounted for every time the Forth angel appeared; you used a shield to protect Shinji and I from the N2 blast, and acted as a guardian to Eva Unit One. The only logical explanation of why an apparently inhuman angel would do everything in its power to safeguard Shinji, is that the Fourth angel is also a caring, beautiful young lady that would do whatever it takes to protect the ones she loves."

The teen girl slumped back in the seat and sighed deeply. "How many know what I am?"

"Commander Ikari, Vice commander Fuyutsuki, Dr. Akagi Ritsuko, the Magi computers, and me for sure." She winked, and tried to lower the tension a notch. "I'd bet a month's supply of my beer Shinji knows too."

Despite her cover being blown sky high she couldn't ever rat out her precious friend, "It was a nice run I suppose." Her brown eyes looked bitterly resigned, "Do you have orders to take me out, Captain?" She pulled her hand away and locked eyes with her friend, "I won't resist. I know you'll make it quick. Just-just promise to tell Shinji-san that I moved away….that I…" Tears were now splashing on her lap.

Misato sighed deeply and felt the weight of her concealed sidearm pressing ever so slightly into her side. She reached into her jacket and took out her 9 mm Minebea pistol and wordlessly deposited in front of the gear shift knob. "I need you to answer a question first." Her eyes narrowed, "Do you want to end of this world?"

Jadel eyes widened at the sight of the weapon and reflexively she felt a surge of unholy power within as her angelic half screamed at her to swat this human down and fulfill her mission.

Misato saw Rami's eyes glow faintly blue as she saw her inhuman half assert itself. It took every ounce of willpower not to snatch up the gun, but she needed to be sure. If the prognostications of the Magi supercomputers were correct, then she had every reason to trust this half human. Still, if she ended up dead, the others would fight in her stead.

"N-no! Ramiel, I won't let you hurt my friend!" Jadel grimaced and fought down the angel's poisonous influence, and her eyes were restored to their light brown hue. She spoke through gritted teeth, as the tears continued to fall, "C-captain, if you're going to act, do it quickly!" She was terrified out of her mind, and didn't want to die! She wanted to see Shinji's sweet face once again...just one more time.

Misato found her answer and slowly let out her breath in relief. She holstered her pistol, inwardly impressed and moved nearly to tears. She took out a few tissues and handed them to the sobbing girl. "You pass, Rami-chan! I have to say you're the most selfless girl I've ever met."

"H-huh?" Jadel was dumbfounded. "Isn't it your job to destroy every angel that threatens mankind? You have one less than a meter away from you!"

Katsuragi squeezed Jadel's shoulder, "Angels Three and Five blindly slaughtered everything in their path as soon as they rose up from the ocean depths. You've had weeks to plot your attack on NERV, and not a single assault. I'm no fool, and I know you could have killed me easily just now. Every time the crap hits the fan you've taken our side." She managed a slight smile, "You said it yourself. Every angel that threatens mankind must be obliterated. Do you threaten mankind, Rami-chan?"

She shook her head, "I d-don't know why, but I feel Ramiel and I are joined like conjoined twins. I don't think I am quite human or angel. I know my directive to reach my father, Adam." She wiped at her eyes, "Still, any impulse to attack you is overridden by my affection for you and my friends."

Katsuragi finally smiled again, "I think I know why you're on our side. Your humanity is too strong." She put the car into gear and raced down the nearly empty streets. Inwardly she was wondering if the Commander's choice to allow Misato to assess whether Jadel could be trusted would pay off, but her own instincts tugged at her heart to give this half human girl the benefit of the doubt. She certainly couldn't have pictured herself a month ago passing up on any opportunity to destroy an Angel.

…

"There she is!"

Rami hadn't wheeled a meter inside Misato's apartment before Hikari gave her a crushing hug. She enthused, "How do you feel, Rami-san?"

Rami was still in a daze that she was still alive, "O-okay! It's great to see you again, Hikari-san!"

Misato smirked as she walked by and took a can from a refrigerator containing an endless array of tan-colored cans of Yebisu brand beer.

Hikari beamed as she wheeled her friend into the living room. To her shock, not only was Shinji and a goofy-looking penguin there, but Aida, Suzehara, and even Ayanami were keeling around a low dining table. Most of her classmates cheered as she was lowered into a seated position on a cushion.

"I-is this a party? This isn't for me is it?"

The class rep poured her a drink of iced tea, "Of course it is! You're out of the hospital, and that's a reason to celebrate."

Shinji silently locked eyes with her, and quickly looked away with an embarrassed smile.

Misato downed the beer in one go, much to Jadel's slack-jawed astonishment and tossed the empty to Ikari to recycle. "Yahoo! It's also to separate Shinji's fantastic victories. Two angels defeated in less than a month. You rock kiddo!"

Kensuke giggled and took out a t-shirt and unfurled it, "This is for you Shinji-kun!"

Ikari blinked and then turned beet red. On the shirt was a stylized blue octahedron graphic with the text 'My Angel!' under it.

Toji laughed as soda came out his nose! After he blew into a tissue, he pointed jeeringly at the horrified Third child and roared, "Yo! Put it on champ!"

Shinji whined, "Aww, geez Misato! Do I have to?"

Misato grinned and gave him a backslap, "Yep! On my orders!"

Shinji looked like he wanted to jump off the apartment balcony as he donned the humiliating shirt and groused, "I…hate my life."

Rami couldn't help but giggle at the good-natured ribbing.

Rei watched the display with an unmistakable look of bafflement. "Angel?"

Aida winked and poked his friend in the ribs, "This angel is stuck to Shinji-kun like glue. It's like he has a girlfriend now."

Rei looked at Shinji with an utterly serious expression, "Is that correct? You are dating the angel, Ikari-san?"

"N-no! Aaargh!" Shinji was so mortified he ran off to hide in the bathroom. Hikari and Misato laughed so hard tears ran down their cheeks. Rami started to flush deeply at the insinuation even though she knew they were just teasing. Part of her wished it was at least a little true; that Shinji would return her affections even slightly.

Ayanami's words cut into her bashful musings, "Jadel-san, why are your facial capillaries dilated?"

Rami replied in a blind panic, "W-what?"

The class rep leaned over and whispered to the First child, "Rami-chan has a crush on Ikari-san."

Rei look solemnly at the flustered girl, "You possess an amorous infatuation on the Third child?"

"Uhh…yeah."

"Hey what are ya girls whispering about," an annoyed Toji called out across the table.

Hikaru winked, "Nothing, Suzehara-kun!"

Rami sighed and pleaded with her friends, "Please keep it a secret!"

"You know I will," Hikari replied happily.

"I will not repeat what I have ascertained about you, Jadel-san."

"Thanks so much!"

Katsuragi held up her drink, "Cheers everyone!" She yelled at the closed bathroom door, "Great job Shinji!"

A muffled voice replied, "I want to die!"

Everyone except Rei burst out into peals of laughter. Rami realized that even knowing the awful truth of what she was, her friends truly believed in her. Despite the jab of sharp spines, this hedgehog was determined to get closer to her human friends…and love.


	6. Chapter 6-Alliance

**Chapter 6-Alliance**

The party had gone to nearly midnight and Rami had bunked in Misato's spare bedroom with Hikari and Rei, while the guys had crashed with Shinji in his room. Later in the evening after he had emerged from the bathroom Rami had apologized to Shiji about his friends picking on him, but he had smiled awkwardly and said he had actually liked the shirt, and enjoyed having Ramiel as his tag-team partner in combat. Rami had tossed and turned into the wee hours of the morning, trying ever so hard to rein in her wildly out of control fantasies. Sometime after 1 AM Horaki giggled in the darkness from the next futon over, "Have you told Ikari-san that you like him, Rami-san?"

Rami exhaled sharply and gloomily responded, "Obviously not." She stared up at the ceiling moodily. "We're too different anyway."

"That's baloney. He may be one of the Three stooges, but if there's one thing I know about that dweeb is that he doesn't care where you're from, or what faith your adhere to." Hikari squeezed her friend's shoulder, "Don't give up yet. He wore your handmade gift, didn't he?"

"Y-yes he did. But it would be better if he found somebody else. Maybe someone like Ayanami-san."

Both of the girls looked over to the softly snoring albino. Hikari looked back to Jadel and shook her head firmly with an impish smile, "Suzehara-kun told me in no uncertain terms he's never given her a thought except as a fellow pilot."

Jadel nodded slowly, "Have you told Suzehara-san yet?"

Hikari flushed and groaned softly.

"Your feeding him bento lunches every day gave the game away. Sorry if it's a sore spot."

"No. I wish that dense jock would even notice me. I'll try my best if you will."

The Arab girl smiled herself, "Allright, you win! I promise to try my utmost."

"Great! Goodnight Rami-chan!"

"Goodnight, Hikari…chan."

…

The next morning, a hung over and sleep deprived Misato watched Jadel slumber after opening the bedroom sliding door partway. The petite girl with her waist length hair splayed out under her body looked so frail and harmless asleep. Yet that small frame concealed the most powerful angel that NERV had yet encountered. Maybe despite the Commander's assent to stress test her threat to humanity along with the Magi's recommendation to recruit her, still it fell on her intuition that she simply liked the sweet girl like she was a little sister. She opened the door fully and shook Rami gently.

Rami woke up and had a brief anxiety flare up at seeing Misato's face. Then she chastised herself that she needed to trust her. She nodded while stifling a yawn, "Katsuragi-san. Good morning."

"Good morning, angel," she spoke as she winked. "It's time to get dressed. Commander Ikari wants to meet you."

"Yes ma'am."

Forty minutes later, she sat in her chair in a vast subterranean space next to a scowling Katsuragi. She could see a dimly lit ceiling and giant holes in the ground filled with what looked like giant skeletal remains. Fuyutsuki gently squeezed her shoulder, "What happened Rami-chan? How did you end up as an angel?"

"I-I have absolutely no idea, sensei! This is all new to me as well." She curled her hands in frustration, "Did my uncle know? Did he keep this dark secret from me?"

"Easy Rami-chan. He may have been as in the dark as you were. He was a good man. Don't condemn him yet."

She smiled up at her guardian in relief, "Yeah…I loved him with all my heart. He must have not known either. Thanks, Fuyutsuki-sensei!"

He beamed down at her, "There's the smile I've been waiting for. You made the right choice to work with NERV. Along with Shinji-chan and Rei-chan, you may quite possibly save the world."

A booming bass voice echoed behind them, "Welcome to Terminal Dogma, Angel of thunder!" A tall intimidating man came into the light. He was dressed in a black uniform and a plum turtleneck, paired with white gloves. His hair and neatly trimmed beard indicated a meticulous care to his appearance. His icy blue eyes bore into Jadel so much she started to shiver for reasons besides the cold.

A tall woman with bleached blond hair dressed in a blue blouse, black miniskirt and long white labcoat joined the fearsome commander. Her chilly expression also unnerved Rami, "At last we meet face to face, Fourth angel."

"H-h-he-hello! I'm Jadel R-rami!"

"Doctor Akagi Ritsuko. I am the head scientist here at NERV. I run the Magi supercomputers and oversee the maintenance of the Evangelion units."

Misato was frowning, as she felt there was no need to strongarm Rami, but she couldn't defy the commander. "Rami-chan, this is Commander Ikari Gendo. He is the head executive of NERV."

"A p-pleasure sir!"

Commander Ikari smugly loomed over the terrified girl, and wondered how a crippled, extroverted half angel had ever managed to befriend his pathetically damaged child. Additionally she was saddled with a massive crush on him if his intelligence on her was accurate. That could prove useful in the future. He spoke sternly, "As you have thrown in your lot with humanity, I felt it was best that you start to work with our organization on an official basis."

"Of course sir!" Rami couldn't believe this overbearing man could be at all related to the shy and meek Shinji.

"You may proceed with the experiment, Dr. Akagi."

"Yes commander." She took out a small laptop and put it on a pedestal, and hooked the end of a thick grey cable into its side, "Linking to Magi Balthazar. Data collection commencing."

Ikari turned back to Rami and commanded, "Show us your core, Fourth angel."

"Sir." She waved Misato and Dr. Futyutsuki away and levitated in the air. Her expression screwed up into intense pain as a thin spherical barrier materialized all around her; her limbs distorted and splintered apart into thousands of tendrils which embedded themselves all around the periphery of the core. She screamed in agony, and then crimson fluid rapidly gushed into the space out of the cables and soon filled it to the top. Her hair turned spiny and silver, and her eyes began to glow bright blue. The liquid rapidly solidified into a uniform crimson.

Misato gaped at the sight of an angel's core hovering mere meters above her head. She hadn't ever expected to see a working S2 engine in person…her deceased father's lifelong dream floating just out of reach of her hands.

Ristsuko's brown eyes looked at the red sphere with an expression of intense fascination at the influx of data. "Excellent! That's all for now, Ramiel!"

Rami nodded and the sphere dissolved with an inrush of air and a loud cracking sound. The tendrils reformed into arms and legs and Jadel hit the ground with a dull thump.

…

Shinji sighed as he rode down the endless escalator deep in the bowels of NERV suspended over a twenty story drop. Rei stoically stood two steps behind him. Despite trying to focus on the spirited female vocal 'Blue Legend' from the vintage video game 'Ys' piped into his earbuds from his SDAT cassette player, his mind paced restlessly. Ever since he had spoken with and hugged Jadel…Rami in the hospital his newly awakened awareness and total ineptitude over the opposite sex had left him adrift and distracted over the females in his life. Rami was funny and friendly, and she was now his closest thing he had to a friend, on or off the battlefield. His realization of her true nature only made him want to protect her more. It was obvious by now that she was willing to die for him, which honestly scared the crap out of him. They were weird opposites in several ways: she was physically damaged while Shinji was emotionally stunted; she was as gregarious as he was reticent; she was optimistic and brave where he was a dour pessimist and a coward. He was far too petrified to even try to figure out if his growing affection for her was genuine or merely hormonal lust. On a related note he was beginning to like Misato a lot as she was a cross between a cool big sister and a loopy aunt that liked to bungee jump. Despite her slovenly behavior, her overt sex appeal had hotwired his hormones and many times he had had retreat into his room or the washroom to cool off. He looked back at Rei and noticed her gaze was straight ahead and focused far away. He took out one of the earbuds, hit the pause button, and asked, "H-how was your last synch test in Unit One, Ayanami-san?"

Both of her now unbandaged eyes regarded the boy coolly, "Within acceptable limits Pilot Ikari. It has increased to 33.6%."

Shinji tried to smile but started to sweat under his collar, "Ah…okay. That's great."

The girl simply stared at him levelly, "Was there anything else, Ikari-san?"

"Erm…no. Nice talking with you." He sighed and turned back around. Ayanami reminded him of one of those stupid wire puzzles sold as novelties that you could never get untangled no matter how long you tried. She was mysterious and enigmatic, and he could never figure out what she was thinking behind her pale blank façade. Why was she so much like a robot? The last time he had logged onto his own low-level access account on the Magi system he had found out that next to nothing was listed about his fellow pilot except her age, sex, basic physical characteristics (which would only interest his lecherous school friends) and where she attended school. There was no mention of any family or where she had come from. Although Toji and Kensuke had regularly teased him about the attractive albino, he felt a bit weird seeing her in a sexual manner. Her personality was a bit too off-putting for him to include her in his idle fantasies. He yanked out the earbuds, and turned off the tape player. They reached to bottom of the escalator and they walked into the Eva storage wing of the massive base. They wordlessly parted ways and he entered the men's locker room to change into his plugsuit.

Rei silently walked into the women's locker room and quickly reached her storage unit. She casually stripped naked and thoughtlessly tossed her school uniform on the floor. She quickly donned the neck to toe white jumpsuit, with black bands decorating the arms and clicked the left wrist air valve controller. The excess air was suctioned out of the plug suit and it clenched skintight against her body. With a blank mind, she calmly attached the A10 synchronization hairclips to her scalp. She balled up her school uniform, stuffed it into her locker, and shut the door again. It was only then that she heard the faint sobbing on the other side of the bank of lockers. She walked around the corner and her crimson eyes widened ever so slightly.

"O-oh! Ayanami-san!" Jadel looked up at the pale pilot with tear streaked streaks.

Rei noted that Jadel-san was in her usual wheelchair, but she was dressed in a charcoal-grey plugsuit accented with cobalt stripes. Just below her white collar was the pilot designation 'A4'. She tilted her head and spoke softly, "I was unaware of your status as an Evangelion pilot, Jadel-san."

"I um…Commander Ikari just recruited me." Her brown eyes looked pleadingly into her friend's. "I have to ask. W-would you hate me if I wasn't human?"

Ayanami silently pondered the question for long moments as Jadel fidgeted and wiped at her eyes. "No, I do not wish you harm, Fourth angel."

Rami was floored, "Huh? You knew too?"

She looked quizzically at Rami, "No. You just revealed your identity to me just now."

Rami laughed sheepishly, "Yeah, I did, didn't I?" Her smile died out, "Ayanami-san, promise me it will be alright out there! I am so scared of being hated for what I am!"

"I can only promise that I will protect you Jadel-san, just as I will protect pilot Ikari."

A relieved girl hugged Rei tightly around her waist, "Thank you! You're the best!"

The albino stood stock still, befuddled over this girl's behavior for many moments.

Rami groaned in good-natured exasperation, "Honestly, hasn't anyone in Japan ever heard of a hug? You're just as bad as Ikari-san at this."

Rei obediently raised her hand and lightly rested it on Rami's shoulder. She felt a strange sensation in her chest; a warmth she couldn't easily identify.

In the deserted control room overlooking the test plug system, Misato was still in a grumpy mood over her boss's treatment of Rami-chan, but she had concealed her annoyance as best she could as both Ritsuko and Shinji were standing nearby. At least Shinji's question had lightened the mood a bit. "No Shinji-san, I won't tell you who the Fourth child is yet! You have to see for yourself!"

"But Captain…"

"No buts! Besides, it's best you meet this pilot and form your own impressions. I have yet to tell you about the Second child either. Once Unit Two has finished its shakedown tests in Germany, you'll meet its pilot in person."

Ikari looked petulant, "Can't you even tell me if it's a boy or girl?"

With Rei walking by her side, Rami wheeled in with a bright smile, "I'm a girl the last time I checked!"

Shinji's jaw nearly hit the floor in shock, "R-rami-san! What are you doing here?"

Misato burst out laughing, "She's one of us now! She's the newest member of NERV!"

A blushing Jadel bowed deeply, "Thank you for the opportunity. I will do my best to protect Tokyo-three, from the Angels…from the other Angels I mean! I swear to back up pilots Ayanami-san, and Ikari-san with my heart and soul!"

The boy was still astonished, "She's going to pilot an Evangelion?"

Akagi shook her head with a cold glare, "Not based the data I previously collected from her. We will try a synchronization experiment anyway, but the Magi predict the probability of success at 1.8% with a standard deviation of 0.7%. Her genome is 99.9% identical to a normal human's, but the brainwave pattern of her Angel persona will likely create a fatal interference pattern with Eva Unit One's or Eva Unit Zero's core."

"Remember the expression: 'Two's company, three's a crowd'," the captain summarized in reluctant agreement. "Basically, as you and Rei-san have one soul, it has the potential to interface with the Eva. Rami-san is a chimera of a human and an Angel. If she tried to synch with an Eva, it would be three minds in one body. It's still worth a try. It would be great to have an extra pilot."

"Oh." Shinji was a bit disappointed that shouldering the burden of piloting Unit One was still solely his responsibility. "I know there are at least three working Eva's. Are there any Evangelions around that don't have a core?"

To Misato's surprise, Ritsuko looked genuinely perturbed. The blond scientist gave a curt nod, "There are. Evas without a core would be in no position to refuse a melding between Eva and Angel matter. We have ample raw material lying around, but I will need permission from the Commander to fund pulling any discards off the scrap heap."

As the red-suited NERV technicians filed in, Captain Katsuragi smiled, "Well children, let's worry about that later. For now, prepare for test plug entry."

…

In the chamber directly under the control room, Rami watched with trepidation as Shinji and then Rei entered long white tubes which both extended into a vast liquid pool beyond the porthole windows. She watched the video feeds as the interior of the entry plugs flooded with a sickly orange fluid.

Misato spoke reassuringly through the intercom, "Your turn. Don't worry, we'll look after you."

"Yes ma'am!" She was lifted out of her chair by a strong tech and eased into the control couch. She leaned back into the cushioned seat. The hatch cover closed tightly around her and she could smell traces of a sickening liquid in the sealed control pod. She felt a shutter and heard a high-pitched whine as the plug was injected into the pool. The disgusting orange liquid started at her feet and rapidly filled the cabin. Her head started to spin and wrenching nausea flared up, "Stop please! I'm going to throw up!"

She heard Akagi's clipped voice, "Abort LCL injection!"

The liquid stopped at neck level, and was quickly siphoned out again. Misato's voice spoke soothingly, "It's not your fault Rami-chan! Don't worry, you're coming out now!"

"W-wait, captain!" She splayed out her left hand and with a grimace, the plastic glove ripped open as her fingers splintered apart into thin cables. Red liquid gushed out and the plug was soon filled to the top with the crimson core fluid. She sighed a bit in relief, "I'm okay now. You can proceed, Captain."

At that moment the controls powered up fully and her screens lit up, showing the pool all around her as well as Shinji's pod to her left.

In the control booth Misato raised her eyebrows, "I wish I could do that trick, Rami-chan."

Maya looked excitingly over the incoming data. "All three pilots are synched to the entry plugs. Some of the values are highly abnormal for pilot Jadel, but she isn't showing any signs of distress."

Ritsuko looked somewhat grim, "That's to be expected. She's not human, Maya."

"Of course, Doctor."

Misato shot her friend an annoyed glance, but decided a public argument wouldn't serve any purpose. She hoped that most people in this organization would grow to see Rami-chan as the sweet, kind girl that she actually was rather than as an unfeeling monster. "Hyuga, can we remotely link to Unit Zero?"

"Not at this time, Captain. Eva Unit Zero is still offline undergoing final tests before Rei's synch reactivation test tomorrow at 1200h."

"Unit One then?"

"Yes ma'am. Unit one is ready for the remote link."

"Do it then. Start with Rei."

On the viewsceen Ayanami flinched, but then stoically allowed the interaction between her mind and the giant cyborg ten stories above her.

Maya beamed, "Brainwaves are holding steady. The First child and Unit One are both showing a stable interface."

"Bioreadouts all in the green," Hyuga reported.

Misato unwound a bit. This was a good omen considering how Rei's last contact with an Eva had nearly killed her. "Good. How are you doing, Rei-san?"

"No adverse issues to report, Captain Katsuragi."

"Terminate the connection, and link up Shinji-san next."

Ayanami went limp as she recovered from the exertion. Ikari surprisingly showed little visible reaction to the link beyond an elevated heartrate.

Hyuga whistled, "The Third child is already fully linked up. I think Unit one really likes him. Bioreadings are green across the board."

Maya chimed in, "He has a very steady connection. It's at least 50% better than Rei's!"

Katsuragi smiled, "Great. Now cross your fingers and try Rami."

Shinji sighed as his mind was once again his own. Rami had a puzzled expression, and then her face contorted into pain.

Hyuga yelped, "Bioreadings are going haywire!"

Maya chimed in urgently, "It's no good! Her brainwaves are completely chaotic! She can't handle the link!"

"Terminate the connection," Misato barked.

Hyuga fumed, "It won't disconnect!"

On the screen Rami was curled up in a fetal position, wailing.

"Eject the entry plug! Now!"

"AT field detected," Maya warned urgently.

"What?"

Jadel's entry plug ratcheted back into the entry station below the control room. Suddenly a prismatic octagonal field flared and the top half of the pod sheared off. Rami spilled onto the floor, followed by a torrent of red fluid.

One of the techs checked her suit reading and reported up to his superiors, "Pilot Jadel is alive Captain! She's just passed out. We'll take her to the base hospital get checked out."

Misato scowled as she saw Shinji and Rei scrambled out of their entry plugs to check on their friend. "Damn."

Ritsuko sighed glumly, "I don't think saying 'I told you so', will cover it."


	7. Chapter 7-Cassiel

**Chapter 7-Cassiel**

Rami woke up to an unfamiliar ceiling in the underground medical facility, and sighed as she saw the time was well after 2400h. She turned in gratitude to the boy and girl sitting by her bedside, still encased in their pilot suits, "Shinji-kun, Ayanami-san, you should go home."

The boy nodded with rare conviction, "I'm staying."

Rei remained silent, but her mere presence spoke volumes to Rami.

"Thank you both." She sighed and looked back up on the ceiling. "I'm sorry, but my crystalline alter ego won't let me synch to your Evas. I wanted so much to help you both out!"

Shinji shook his head and managed a faint smirk, "So being a shapeshifting, particle beam shooting, floating fortress isn't enough badassery for you?"

Jadel couldn't help but giggle a bit. Somehow Shinji always seemed to know how to kick her bouts of self pity away.

The intercom on the wall activated and Dr. Akagi's cold voice cut into the small space, "Rei!"

Ayanami looked over at the speaker and spoke calmly, "Yes, Dr. Akagi."

"Meet me in the usual spot. It's time for your medical update, before the reactivation test."

"Understood." She stood and bowed slightly to Shinji and Rami, "Farewell."

Ikari frowned, "See you later."

Jadel waved, "Seeya." She waited until the girl was out the door before she turned to her friend, "Did she say something off?"

"No! I-er…I mean the way she always says goodbye makes it sound like she'll never see us again!"

"Oh." She reached over and clumsily touched the armrest of his chair, knowing his aversion to physical contact. To her surprise, Shinji placed a shaking hand over hers. Rami blushed as she realized that this was the first time he had willingly touched her. "Then tell her what you just told me; she'll understand I'm sure. I really do think she's a nice person."

"O-okay I will! Thanks Rami-san!"

She groaned and sat up with his help. "Let's go. I have an errand to run before 1200h."

He wheeled her chair over and they were soon on their way.

…

Promptly at 1155 hours, just as Rei was about to enter the entry plug to Unit 00, a technician hurried over and delivered a small bouquet of flowers from the school garden. She looked up in surprise and looked over to the observation window where Shinji, Rami and Misato were standing. The children waved, and Ayanami stared back in confusion. She looked over to the worker, "Tell them thank you."

The tech grinned and bowed, "You got it Pilot Ayanami!"

She gently touched the flowers and placed them in a waterproof, padded storage bin adjacent to the open hatch. She then took her seat and was quickly ratcheted into her mech. The last time she had attempted an activation test, she clearly remembered was the moment she was about to cross the absolute activation threshold. When she came to, she was lying in a wrecked pod with a broken arm, a ruptured spleen, fractured ribs, a punctured lung, and a concussion. Commander Ikari had burned his hands wedging the hatch open and had desperately asked after her welfare. As a memento while she was in the hospital, in a rare moment of initiative, she had asked for his destroyed glasses. She felt until she had met Ikari-san and Jadel-san that he was the only person she would trust completely. She wasn't sure why, but both of the other children had stubbornly chipped away at her stony defenses. Even though she was a disposable clone, those two seemed to see her as a precious friend. She shook her head and she carefully draped the commander's ruined eyeglasses on the control arm, and wedged a single daisy in a groove in the plug wall so she could see it clearly during the test.

She heard Commander Ikari's voice, "Rei, are you ready?"

"Yes commander."

Inside the control booth Gendo frowned as he watched the slow powerup of Rei's Eva, as the techs chattered around him. It was seared into his mind that only a few weeks ago, that a berserk Unit 00 had trashed the observation windows with its bare fists before auto-ejecting its hapless pilot. He pushed up his wire-rimmed sunglasses with a white gloved hand. The burn scars on his hands still hurt, but he stoically ignored the pain. This experiment had to work this time. Rei, no matter the version, was the only way to bring his precious wife back to him. "Initiate Primary connection!"

Hyuga's eyes looked serious behind his thick glasses, "Power distribution is normal!"

"Logic circuits A-1 through H-56 connected", Maya reported.

The long haired Aoba noted, "Eva unit zero is stable. All systems nominal."

In the access corridor overlooking the test chamber, Misato sipped at her coffee and watched with nervous tension. She glanced over and saw Rami-chan was standing on her awkward braces, being supported by Shinji. Both looked too excited and distracted to notice how the boy's arm was pushing into Jadel's back in an embrace that looked suspiciously like a hug. She decided with a slight smile not to tease Shinji this time as Rei was the priority, but filed the idea away for later.

Maya mentally crossed her fingers as Ritsuko leaned over at her station, "Approaching absolute threshold."

The tension rose perceptibly in the control booth as everyone present knew the disaster that had befallen Ayanami occurred the last time they had reached this step on the activation checklist.

Risuko balled up a hand, and muttered under her breath, "Don't screw it up again Rei!"

Inside the cockpit, Ayanami gently caressed the flower with a gloved hand. She decided that it wasn't her place to question why Ikari and Jadel wanted to be around her, and that she would accept their company.

Maya practically squealed, "Absolute threshold crossed!"

Hyuga cheered, "Unit zero has been activated!"

Dr. Akagi exhaled sharply, and spoke in a relieved tone to her underling "Begin systems integration diagnostics."

"Yes ma'am!"

Inside the luminous cockpit, Rei looked around and managed a ghost of a smile. Now she could be useful to the commander, the other children, and NERV. She could finally fulfill her purpose.

Hyuga whistled, "She's amazing! I've never seen such a stable connection before. It's like she's a whole different person in the cockpit."

"Doctor, the feedback error from the last synch test is gone. Her Synch ratio is 40.1%. That's a personal best for her."

"Very good Maya." She adjusted her lab coat and addressed her boss, "Commander, Rei has progressed at least 18.7% ahead of schedule in her synchronization tests. I recommend that Evangelion Unit Zero be placed on the active roster along with Unit one once the Magi clear her."

"Proceed Dr. Akagi." Gendo was pleased that Rei was progressing faster than the Magi's projections, and the trio of supercomputers were nearly infallible about everything except the human heart. He could only assume her emotional entanglements with the Third and Fourth children had affected her mental state. It was a troublesome development, but he quickly reassured himself that the emotional torque he could exert on Shinji and Ramiel could be parlayed to his advantage.

Aoba cursed to himself, "Commander, first stage alert! Another angel has been detected 40 kilometers off the coast to our southeast!"

Hyuga chimed in, "JMSDF destroyers are forming a blockade just inside Tokyo bay!"

The commander nodded, "Inevitable. Deploy Units One and A4 against the sixth angel!" He turned to the doctor, "Dr. Akagi, you're with me." He turned to Maya, "Miss Ibuki, complete the tests and send Unit Zero up to the cage as backup."

"Yes commander!"

…

One story down, klaxons hooted as Misato spat out her coffee and rounded on the young pilots, "Shinji, Rami, get to the cage now! I'll be in the operations room." She ran off to her duty station.

Jadel was inelegantly dumped back in her wheelchair and was pushed by her friend down the hallway for the elevator. She looked back to Shinji in distress, "I can feel it! It's Cassiel!"

"Huh? You know its name?"

"When I'm in close range, I can sense their identity." She nodded grimly, "Ramiel was supposed to be attacking now, not Cassiel!" She felt her insides chill, "Oh no. Whatever force that fused my soul to the angel upended the attack order! It's my fault its coming!"

Reminding himself of seeing his lethal friend in action made Shinji shake his head, "No offense, but I'd rather take my chances with the sixth angel than you!"

It was at times like these that reminded Rami why she adored Shinji so much.

Five minutes later, Shinji in his white and blue plug suit entered the devilish looking Unit 01.

Two bays over, Rami was surprised to see a rather dingy grey entry plug with only the markings 'Entry Plug X-27', and 'GEHIRN 2004' waiting for her.

The handsome lead tech beamed and saluted, as she was seated inside, "Ryujo Ken, age 28, head of Entry plug technical squad at your service, Jadel-san!"

"Erm, t-thanks."

He winked, "Don't worry about the entry plug. We spent the last 24 hours rehabbing this baby back up to snuff! It looks like junk, but it will serve you well!"

"Thank you Technician Ryujo!"

"Come back safe angel!" He gave a thumbs-up and the hatch swiveled shut. Once the plug was suspended over the LCL pool in the vast hanger, a blushing Jadel used her transformed arm to fill the entry plug with core fluid. Surrounding the plug a clear bubble formed, cables shot in from the envelope and pierced the housing of the plug in a thousand places, and red liquid rapidly filled it up to form the S2 engine.

Up in the command center, an out of breath Hyuga sat down and announced to Misato, "Unit A4 is ready for transfer to lift two, ma'am! Unit One will be on lift one!"

"Proceed!" Katsuragi shook her head as she saw the massive crystal sphere was trundled over by a crane to the massive electrically-powered lift, followed by the purple giant. She still couldn't quite believe she would be directing an angel in combat, "Rami, are you ready?"

The female pilot appeared on a holographic screen, "Yes ma'am!"

Shinji's image appeared next. "I'm ready to go, Captain!"

"Listen up, the sixth angel isn't flying, but recon estimates it's at least two hundred stories tall!" She crossed her arms, "Unit A4, try a particle beam attack when you make contact. Unit One, you will piggyback on Unit A4 and you will be supplied with long range artillery, as fire support!"

Both pilots nodded grimly and nervously.

"Eva Unit One and Unit A4 launch!"

A massive electrical discharge sent the two combatants up out of the geofront, through the seventeen layers of armor plating and onto the Eastern edge of the city in mere seconds.

"Here goes nothing," Rami vowed stiffly. The core burst into the blinding midday sky and rapidly formed its outer crystal shell out of thin air like layers of an onion. Unit 01 grabbed a lethal mecha-sized sniper rifle from a supply tower and hopped onto a nearby retracted missile tower which extended to its full 30 story height. Ramiel's outer shell shimmered and the smooth facets indented into a step-pyramid shape. With a nimble leap Shinji's Evangelion hopped aboard its ride. Rami giggled as Unit 01 clambered up her upper facet, as the feedback from her exterior sensors felt she was being tickled. "All set Shinji-kun?"

Shinji's face appeared on her display, "All set Rami-san! Unit One is on battery back up with just under five minutes to spare!"

"Hang on!" The blue crystal rapidly gained altitude as it passed over the mostly dismembered corpse of Shamshel in the green valleys and headed for the shoreline. She gaped at her display as she saw her opponent looked like a child's wind up toy scaled up to diabolical size. It was very tall and thin, with interweaving black struts and girders forming its strange thousand meter tall legs, a short cross beam connecting the pivoting limbs with a pendulum-like black sphere hanging below it, and a thin neck supporting two bird skull shaped faces just above its core. It inexorably advanced across the bay freezing the water with each footstep as dozens of ships and shore batteries poured devastating, but pointless fire at the new angel. Ramiel serenely floated out over the water in the midst of all the chaos.

The sailors on the bridges of the line of JMSDF destroyers gaped as the massive crystal solid cast a dark shadow across them to stand against the new angel.

Kasuragi barked, "Open fire!"

Rami grimaced and concentrated, "Yes ma'am!" Ramiel's horizontal band lit up with a mighty roar and a bright beam shot straight at the sixth's angel's core, just below its twin faces; unfortunately a flaring octagonal barrier caused the shot to ricochet up into the sky.

The mighty angel unleashed a devastating gravity wave which the blue octahedron barely parried. Unfortunately the attack wave slipped around the edge of Unit A4's AT field and sheared the lead destroyer in half!

"No," Shinji and Rami screamed in unison.

Shiji watched with a horrified expression as the warship foundered and sank within seconds. His eyes narrowed into furious slits, "You angel bastard!" He unleashed a shot from the sniper rifle which nicked the core and smashed half the angel's swiveling face off!

The sixth's angel's retaliation was swift and merciless. Dozens of bright green plasma bolts with black zigzagging trails shot off from a dark field surrounding the smashed face directly at Units 01 and A4. The combined AT fields warded off the overwhelming attack, but Jadel expanded the field to protect the Japanese navy from losing any more ships.

Aoba cursed under his breath, "Unit A4 is losing AT field integrity in its central hub!"

Hyuga warned, "Unit One has three minutes of power left!"

Misato clenched her fists as she saw the energy bolts start to shatter the outer shell of Ramiel. "Rami-chan! Draw in your field! Your job is to defeat the angel, not protect the support fleet!"

She saw the Jadel's face was in agony, "I-I'm sorry Captain! All those people just died! Not one more!"

Giant chunks of the blue angel pelted the bay causing the ships behind its barrier to rock violently in the waves!

Shinji tried to get off another shot but an explosion sent his Eva tumbling! He gasped as he caught a handhold and snatched the plummeting rifle just before it catapulted into the sea. He raged, "Damn it to hell!" 

Katsuragi saw the battle rapidly spiral out of control. She turned to Ritsuko, "What about Unit Zero?"

A wheezing Maya sprinted into NERV HQ, "She…she's on her way to the cage…she's just been cleared by all three Magi!"

Dr. Akagi gently patted her underling on the shoulder, "Great work!"

Misato spoke with a tight edge, "Good! Is the Centrifugal Type Positron cannon on Lift three?"

The glasses-wearing tech gave her a thumbs up, "Yes captain! Unit Zero is ready to sortie!" 

"Rei, charge up the mountainside, and try to get off a sniper shot!"

"Understood, Captain."

"Eva Unit Zero launch!"

The third lift fired off sending the Cyclops blue mecha hurtling skywards.

Jadel felt her skin was on fire and more and more of her protective shell was obliterated. The S2 engine was at full power maintaining the AT field. Her protective instincts had left her naked to the pitiless angel assault. "S-s-shinji…kun! I'm so…sorry."

Eva 01 reached the top of the pyramid, and lined up the shot. It was up to Ikari to save his friend. Abruptly three green shots penetrated the barrier and slammed into the upper torso and arms of Unit 01. Shinji howled in sympathetic pain to his Eva, and gasped as he found himself plummeting in freefall, "Die you monster!" He lined up and fired his final three rounds before his cyborg hit the water with a tremendous splash. The Eva went straight to the seafloor in seconds.

Two shots bracketed the sixth's angel's core, but the third shot found its mark. The head and core exploded in a bright flash of light, and the latticework started to fall apart.

Unit 00 burst out of the lift and raced for the seaside mountains with a bulbous black gun with an underslung particle accelerator. Inside, Ayanami was focused on the sole task of killing the angel.

Hyugu grimaced, "This is bad! The damage to Unit One's armor cracked open the battery packs! The seawater is shorting it out!"

Katsuragi desperately turned to the boy's display, "Shinji! Eject the entry plug now!"

Ikari woozily looked at his superior, "I used up all my power to boost the AT field so my shots would penetrate! Sorry ma'am!" The holographic display flicked out as Unit 01 lost power.

Rami's eyes widened in terror and pain, "Shinji-kun!" She pounded the side of the plug, "Shinji-kun, Shinji-kun, Shinji-kun!"

Hyuga grimly stated the obvious, "Unit one has gone silent!"

"Rami, hold out a bit longer! Unit Zero is on its way," Misato commanded.

Rami's tears flowed into the reddish fluid as she screamed, "Captain! Tell me he's okay! Tell me his entry plug can hold back the sea! Tell me he's still alive!"

The captain was grimly silent for a long moment, but she couldn't lie to her charge, "I don't know. I'm sorry."

"The sixth angel is reassembling itself! Unit One must have missed the true core," Aoba spat out in frustration.

Rami turned to the monster that had wrecked so much havoc with a purity of rage that she had never felt before, and her teeth bared. She saw the black pendulum change to red in color as it smoothly swung up as the angel reformed. She could never forgive what had been done to her friend, "How…how dare you!" She screamed and her voice became musical as thousands of cables from her core shot through the entry plug and into her body. Her eyes lit up blue as she synched with her angel persona for a singular purpose; revenge.

Maya looked disturbed, "We've lost the feed to Unit A4! The pilot's brainwaves are fully overlapping with Ramiel's!"

Ristuko looked over the Magi displays, "If Jadel fuses with that thing, it will have to be destroyed! We can't allow a rogue angel."

Misato turned back to the monitors in desperation, "Rei, are you in position?"

Ayanami calmly crouched at the mountain ridge and braced the heavy particle weapon with its built in bipod, "Yes Captain Katsuragi."

Rami only cared about bringing Cassiel down, as nothing else mattered. The particle reactor was too badly damaged to fire again so she grimly opted for the only viable alternative. The S2 engine pulsed as she set it to a feedback overload and changed shape to entangle herself with her opponent.

Aoba turned white, "Unit A4 just activated its self destruct! Its core is preparing to detonate!

Misato felt tears sting her own eyes, "Rami-chan don't do it!"

A small, thin voice echoed through the HQ, "Commencing shot."

A white beam from Unit 00's positron cannon connected with the core of Cassiel, causing it to shatter in a million fragments. The dead angel lurched and then tumbled to its right and toppled into the water, taking the entangled Ramiel with it. The gigantic waves rushed against the battered fleet grounding at least three of them and swamping the coastal highway.

Hyuga gaped openly at the awe-inspiring sight for several long seconds. He then remembered his place, "Ma'am, the sixth angel is destroyed."

Commander Ikari coldly cut in, "Stand down alert. Send out a retrieval team for Unit One. It is an indispensible asset."

The captain's eyes narrowed, "What about your son and Rami-chan?"

He looked back at her with a cool gaze, "Trivialities, Captain Katsuragi."

She turned back to the main monitors, seething inside. "Rei, return to the cage. Deploy rescue squads to retrieve Unit One!"

"Understood. Unit Zero is en route to the nearest Eva socket."

Suddenly two halves of a sunken destroyer were unceremoniously ejected from the ocean onto the coastal road. A minute later, a cracked, kite-shaped crystal angel breached the surface, with a badly mangled Unit 01 dangling from its undercarriage. It wavered and then unceremoniously crashed into the sandy beach, taking out a large chunk of the elevated highway with it.


	8. Chapter 8-Despair

**Chapter 8-Despair**

Shinji woke up feeling like he had been dropped on his head. He gingerly touched his bandaged forehead, and then wobbly sat up in a pale green hospital gown. The medications in his blood kept the pain at bay, but numbed his ability to think.

"How do you feel kiddo? You were under sedation while you recovered from your concussion."

He turned and stared at the fuzzy outline of Misato who was looking sleep-deprived and cranky. He knew something was deeply amiss but could place exactly what as his head was still in a fog, "C-captain…uhhh."

"Ristuko has cleared your discharge. I need your help with a big problem."

Ikari shook his head as if to clear the cobwebs, "Problem? If we're still alive wasn't the Sixth angel destroyed?" Suddenly a shard of dread seized his heart, as he realized Rami-san wasn't at his bedside. He vaguely remembered her anguished screams over his welfare at the end of the last battle. "Rami-san! Is she-?"

"No, she's alive! Calm down!" The Captain sighed, "It's been about three days since the fight. Yes, the Sixth angel is dead, but the problem now is Ramiel, the Fourth angel."

Shiji's blue eyes widened with dread and rising panic, "It…it can't be! Rami-san? Is she alright?"

Her voice was faintly tinged with guilt, "I'm sorry but you'll have to see for yourself to understand." She tossed his school outfit on the bed, and ordered softly, "Get dressed please."

"Yes ma'am."

A few minutes later Shinji gaped with horror at the heavily damaged Unit 01 in the vast hanger space of the cage, being swarmed with technicians. Its entire left upper arm armor was missing as well as the top half of the left arm pylon. What sickened him the most was seeing half the faceplate was missing revealing a tan-skinned giant's face possessing a demonic green eye with multiple pupils.

"Idiot," Misato muttered as she gripped the rail tightly. "You shot the angel, but nearly killed yourself and your Eva in the process!"

He turned away from the giant face that he knew would haunt his dreams for the rest of his life. His shoulders slumped, "I'm sorry I screwed up again. Where's Ayanami?"

"She's on standby with the positron cannon at the coastal mountain pass. We can't take any chances if the Fourth angel attacks again."

Shinji felt a knife pain in the pit of his stomach as he spat out reflexively, "Captain, no! Rami-san isn't the enemy!"

Misato gritted her teeth helplessly, "I know that! But the orders are from your father directly. Unless we can contain her, she is to be classified as a hostile again."

"W-we have to do something!"

A smirk crossed Katsuragi's face, "I have clearance from the Vice-Commander to try an incredibly dumb idea. Are you in?"

Shinji's enthusiastic nod amply conveyed his consent.

…

Around noon the VTOL lifted straight up off the tarmac from the base at the edge of the city and banked to the southeast. Shinji took a window seat and stared down as he saw the bright blue Unit 00 crouched in a mountain pass surrounded by numerous vehicles on the nearby mountain roads. The engines whined as the aircraft passed over the beach and the two halves of the sunk destroyer that lay crumpled in the sand was exposed to view. Just beyond it the legs of the Sixth angel stuck hundreds of meters out of the ocean surface at a crazy angle.

Misato shook her head, "Rami pulled the _JDS Wakaba_ wreck out of the water after you were rescued. Thanks to her 35 trapped sailors made it out alive. Still with over 100 dead it's still a tragedy."

"She's amazing!"

As they passed a ring of destroyers in the middle of the bay the captain groused, "She is. But here's the real problem."

Shinji sputtered at the appalling sight, "What the hell?"

Hanging half a kilometer over the bay was the Fourth angel, but it was far from normal looking. Instead of the soothing geometric facets, it was matte black in color and had crazy spikes splayed out in random directions. Even worse the upper section was pitted and full of holes that allowed the Third child to see the summer sky on the other side. Long stalactites draped off the lower face, which slowly dripped black ichor into the sea. It looked like a titanic, half melted ebony-hued candle.

"That is the Fourth angel as it stands now, and has been for days." She crossed her arms, "The Magi agree that it is an outward appearance of the angel's inner soul."

The boy shook his head in distress and guilt, "An angel with a broken heart. It's because of me!"

"No one is to blame but the Sixth angel, Shinji-chan. However, an angel suffering a breakdown could turn on us in an instant. The city was evacuated two days ago. We've been hunkered down in NERV for over 65 hours waiting for her to do something, or anything at all. At 2400h tonight, Rei is under orders from Commander Ikari to shoot out her core."

Shinji was starting to seriously despise his father! He clenched and unclenched his fists in a furious agitation, "She won't harm anyone but herself. Hover close by her. I'll try to reach Rami-san with my pendant."

"Worth a try! I always was one to play the odds after all!"

They reached the short flight up into the cockpit, and she spoke to the pilot, "Lieutenant, set us to hover a 100 meters above that spine over there."

"Aye-aye Captain!"

The VTOL gently descended into a slow spiral down to just above one of the horizontal spikes.

The captain spoke grimly, "Okay, give it a try Shinji."

Shinji was never very religious, but if there was ever a time to pray, then this was it! He took out Rami's amulet, and focused on it. Soon enough the blue gemstone lit up brightly, and he felt a despairing mind interact with his. He tried to speak to the voice in his mind, _Rami-san! It's me! Shin-_

 _It's all my fault! I'm sorry!_

 _It's all my fault! I'm sorry!_

 _It's all my fault! I'm sorry!_

 _It's all my fault! I'm sorry!_

 _It's all my fault! I'm sorry!_

 _It's all my fault! I'm sorry!_

 _It's all my fault! I'm sorry!_

 _It's all my fault! I'm sorry!_

 _It's all-_

"Aaargh! Stop it Rami-san!" Shinji yelled in pain as he threw the amulet into the corner, breaking the telepathic link.

The Fourth angel finally came to life, as the angel screeched and the spine below them mutated into an inky black goo that wrapped around the VTOL, trapping its occupants inside!

Misato barked, "Shit! Gun the engines!"

The pilot cursed, as the turbines screamed at top power, but they were unable to escape from the angel's crushing embrace. "No good ma'am! The Fourth angel has us by the throat!"

Shinji looked wide eyed as the blackness on the windshield. "It's okay! I know Rami-san won't hurt us!"

Misato was about to tell Shinji to stop saying idiotic things, but gaped as the view changed to a hazy red liquid, which caused the windscreen to crack. She exhaled ruefully as she squeezed her ward's shoulder for comfort, "Well, this is gonna suck."

The windshield shattered as crimson core fluid rapidly flooded the cramped interior of the aircraft.

…

An hour later Gendo smirked insolently at his interrogators as he stood in a circular room with 5 holographic black monoliths looming over him.

The one marked Seele 03 raged at him, "What were you thinking Ikari! You took the Angel Ramiel under your wing in direct contradiction to our commands!"

"It was a logical idea at the time. The Fourth angel was fused to a weakling girl with a bleeding heart. It was child's play to manipulate her." He sneered at the American general, "She also helped destroy Sachiel, Shamshel, and Cassiel. Wouldn't you agree that advanced your agenda?" He adjusted his glasses, "And your lauded, 'infallible', Dead Sea scrolls predicted an attack from Ramiel, not Cassiel in the last angel attack."

Seele 05 growled, "We are yet to be off the script. Other than the single substitution, the scrolls have been always right! Once you terminate Ramiel, we will trust our sources that the plan will unfold on schedule."

Seele 02 cut in with a thin nasal voice, "Speaking of which, you also allowed your Operations director and the Third child to throw their lives away! We already know a badly damaged NERV aircraft made it back to base minutes ago with only its pilot left on board!"

"Still, if Ramiel allowed them inside, then they could pull off a risky gambit. Plus, we have little to lose, and much to gain if they succeed. Captain Katsuragi knew the risks, and the Third child can be replaced with the First. Only Unit One is indispensable to the plan."

Seele 01 noted with a cranky voice, "It will be your head on a plate if you fail, Ikari."

"I am well aware of that, Chairman." He broke out into a cruel smirk, "The Fourth angel will be disposed of sooner or later. If she can be revived, then she will make excellent cannon fodder against the next wave of angels."

Seele 01 noted dryly, "Your funeral. Never forget the debt that you owe us."

All the holograms faded out and Gendo glared down at his gloved hands, "All that matters is Yui."

…

Shinji gasped and wildly looked around, but could see nothing but inky darkness. Suddenly the room was flooded with light and he was surprised to find himself in a train compartment facing a young boy with his face.

The boy spat, "Puny ant!"

Shinji was agog.

The next view he had was of his father looming above him on a balcony overlooking Unit 01. The commander sneered, "Your kind is worthless to live."

"F-f-father? What are…?"

His icy eyes were pitiless, and he spoke in a high pitched musical shriek that deafened the terrified Third child.

The boy opened his eyes and he looked at a scowling Misato as she drove him down the highway near Tokyo-3 at night. Her sunglasses reflected off the sickly yellow streetlamps, "Your kind always make me sick!"

He shook his head in disbelief, but understanding was starting to dawn. "Who are you?"

She looked at him with an arrogant sneer, "I will answer your question when you answer mine. Who are you, ant?"

"I-I am the T-third child," he stammered.

The next thing he knew, he was standing in front of Rei on the escalator over the NERV atrium. The pale albino had an uncharacteristically angry expression. Rain was pelting down on them from above. "Your job. Not your identity. Who are you?"

Shinji flushed as he realized that whatever he was talking to it was malevolent and dangerous. He felt like he was trapped in a cage with a tiger held back by a fraying rope! "Ikari S-Shinji. I am a worthless, useless boy!"

The next location was by the school gym as he has pushed into a wall by Toji who looked like he was ready to hit him. He snarled, "Worthless is correct, for only your boundary field maintains your individual soul. But that does not answer my question!"

Shinji felt his eyes start to water with tears, as he felt a bout of self pity, "I-I don't know who I am!"

Finally his inhuman antagonist seemed satisfied, "Correct. I am the righteous thunderclap of God's fury! I am the destroyer of the weak and impure with fire and brimstone!"

He shook his head, "R-ramiel!"

His assailant's eyes narrowed, "Why did you dare approach me?"

Shinji winced, but he summoned his flickering courage, "I'm here to save my friend!"

Rami-san sat in front of her garden as blood sprayed out of the sprinkler heads. Ikari recoiled in horror. The entity continued, "You cannot save your murderous friend without saving me as well."

He felt the need to defend her, "Y-you're wrong, Ramiel! She isn't a murderer!"

"Isn't she? Tell me this then. How many celestial warriors' blood is stained on her flesh?"

Shinji's eyes widened, but he knew three angels had been partly defeated by his ally. "I understand."

The girl glared, "No. You do not understand. I was to facilitate the celestial restoration by returning to the First born. However the Second born sabotaged my sacred mission. It is now up to my siblings of righteousness to finish what I could not."

He tried unsuccessfully to restrain his badly shaking hands, "If your mission is to eradicate humanity then why are you helping me?"

"Someday I will break free and your kind will pay. Until then I will bide my time." She shot at the boy a withering glare, "Absolve her of her sin, if you think you are up to it. If I die, she dies. Remember that."

The next place was a small room overlooking a vast crystalline chamber the same vast size as the NERV geofront. A man in a white snowsuit stared out of the window in horror as a pulsing light far below started to glow unbearably bright. He looked over in pain in Shinji's direction and gasped, "Anu? Why?"

Shinji turned around and he saw a young lady with tan skin and black hair dressed in a white parka. She was quite obviously pregnant. Tears were streaming down her face as she cocked the hammer of her small, smoking sidearm. "I'm so sorry Hiroshi. SEELE needs their plan to save humanity to work. Our sacrifice is necessary."

"Father!"

Shinji saw a crying Misato scream at the wounded scientist and dash in front of him protectively, "Why, Dr. Kassab? Why did you shoot my dad?"

Dr. Katsuragi ignored his ghostly daughter and seemed resigned to his fate, "Just let me see my S2 engine live for one more moment, Anu. Please."

Dr. Kassab nodded once, and then gasped in shock as a deafening explosion rocked the room. Hiroshi had just shot her! Blood bloomed in her parka at chest level, as she spoke softly, "I love…" She inelegantly crashed to the ground with her lifeless brown eyes still staring sightlessly at the man she had tried to kill.

Misato stared around numbly realizing she was helpless to intervene as she clutched the white cross hanging around her neck.

A bright explosion rocked the room and then all was darkness again.

…

Unit 00 lay sprawled out on its belly with only its head and the barrel tip of the centrifugal type positron cannon exposed out from behind the hilltops. Gigantic cables linked the rear of the cannon to a hastily assembled substation that would supply the weapon with more than a single shot. The main power socket was jutting out of the Eva's back, keeping the internal batteries constantly topped off. Just to the Evangelion's right rested the massive Gatling cannon that Shinji had used several weeks prior at the ready in a braced bracket. Off in the distance the tallest buildings in Tokyo-3 were still fully retracted in assault mode and hundreds of blank weapon towers were locked in the raised position. Standing under the nearly full moonlight, Rei stood in her white and black plugsuit with a blank expression.

"Pilot Ayanami?" The lead technician that had seen Jadel off into the battle looked at Rei with an anguished expression.

The albino nodded curtly, "Technician Ryujo. I do not wish Jadel-san, Ikari-san or Captain Katsuragi any harm. However my orders are absolute."

Ken berated himself as he had for the past two days. He had been the lead tech in charge of making sure the entry plug that Jadel-chan had used was up to snuff. Was it his fault she hadn't come back? He didn't know and it was killing him. He pleaded, "If you have to shoot, please make it quick!"

"I promise."

Over a nearby loudspeaker atop the scaffold, Dr. Akagi's stern voice ordered, "It's time Rei! Power up Unit Zero!"

"Yes doctor." Ken opened the plug hatch and made sure the slender pilot was securely seated. The hatch pivoted shut and ratcheted into the massive cyborg. Inside, after the amber LCL injection, the screens lit up brightly with night enhanced views of the dark shoreline. All around and behind her mech, lights winked out as a citywide blackout diverted power to the potent particle gun. Her unit's single electronic eye automatically zoomed in at 1000x magnification outlining the dark outlines of the mutated, misshapen crystalline shell of Unit A4. The gun powered up with an overlaid targeting reticule.

In the tense NERV control room, the clock ticked over to 2400h. Ritsuko crossed her arms, and glanced up at the commander before speaking, "Commence Operation Thunderclap!"

Hyuga noted glumly, "Aye sir! Unit A4 blood pattern type has been reassigned from blood pattern violet to blue! The bogey is hereby reclassified as the Fourth angel as of 2400 hours JST!"

Aoba grimly chimed in, "JMSDF destroyer cordon has moved to the five kilometers red zone boundary. They and JSSDF coastal artillery barrage are at the ready!"

Maya scowled, "Magi is uploading firing solution up to Unit Zero! Targeting the Fourth angel's center of mass!"

Akagi barked, "Commence bombardment! Rei, open fire!"

"Yes, doctor."


	9. Chapter 9-In the Depth of Human Hearts

**Chapter 9-In the Depth of Human Hearts**

After the explosion which he could only assume was some sort of horrible flashback, Shinji opened his eyes and looked surprised that he was still in one piece considering he was inside a deranged, shapeshifting angel. All around him was red fluid that felt similar to LCL, but felt like arid, hot air in his lungs. All around him were thousands of grey cables which converged into a dense knot in the center.

"Dad…" He saw a forlorn Katsuragi aimlessly floating in the core fluid, looking numb.

Shinji swam over to her urgently and inquired, "Captain! Are you okay?"

She didn't look up for a long time, as she started to laugh. "I remember Dr. Kassab Anu from the Amundsen Scott Polar Research base. She and my father were always working closely together. I really liked her, and I felt bad that she was having a child out of wedlock." Her eyes looked at the surroundings but her tortured mind was far away, back at the South pole. "I thought it was odd that she was so nice to a mouth, bratty, spiteful teen like me."

Shinji looked distressed, "That…that was Rami's mother, wasn't it? That vision was from Antarctica?"

"Yes on both counts. Her older brother was Dr. Jadel Aarif, Rami's uncle." She finally looked up at her charge, "Shinji, what you saw was a massive crystalline geofront, just like the one under Tokyo-Three. It's where my father found the First angel, Adam. He wanted to dissect the giant alien to uncover a limitless power source, its S2 engine."

"S2 engine?"

"It's an angel's core, like the one we're floating in."

The terrified boy nodded with a white face, "Who's Rami's father then?"

Again she laughed, but this time tears seeped into the red fluid as she realized her reality would never be the same, "Ha! I can only conclude that Rami-chan is my…my half-sister. Oh God, what am I going to say to her?"

Shinji sighed softly, "I don't know what to say either, M-misato-san."

She gave him a half smile, "Thanks for using my given name at last, Shinji-chan!"

"Y-yeah." He blushed a bit, "Let's go get Rami-san."

"Agreed! We'll hash out the emotional crap later!" They both pulled themselves along the cables to the remnants of the entry plug, which looked like a shredded tin can that had been detonated from the inside.

Katsuragi called out, "Rami-chan! We're here!"

"It's all my fault! I'm sorry!" There was not a single voice, but an intermingled chorus coming out of the damaged speakers that had once been part of the entry plug.

"Rami?" Shinji looked all around. "I'm okay!"

The chorus of voices sobbed, "It's all my fault! I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I'm so sorry, Shinji-kun! Leave me to die!"

Shinji reached the tattered pod and pounded on it, "N-no! I mustn't run away! I've been running away my whole life! Not once more!"

"But Ramiel has gravely damaged you both! My sin can never be forgiven! My mother seduced and then fatally wounded your father, Captain!"

Misato shook her head grimly, "You are not to blame Rami-chan as you were a helpless baby in your mother's womb! It was never your fault that your soul was fused to Ramiel's."

Shinji touched a cable within the tangled mess, "Come back to us. We-I-i need you."

One of the cables morphed into a slender brown hand and interlaced its fingers with the boy's. "S-s-shinji-kun. I'm so sorry."

"Ack!" Shinji's blue eyes widened, and he reflexively tried to pull his hand free.

Misato clasped his shoulder as hope flared up, "No! Hold on to her, Shinji!"

He fought down his anxiety attack and squeezed the disembodied hand although he was freaked out of his wits! A second hand and a pair of luminescent blue eyes morphed out of the wires. "I'm a fallen angel. I'm so sorry."

He took a deep breath and smiled slightly, "I'm your friend, Rami-san! Please don't be a hedgehog and pull away!"

Rami's head with spiny white hair and torso partly emerged from the tangle, tears filling her eyes, "Shinji-kun."

Shinji blushed furiously at her unnerving gaze but tried his absolute best to focus on his dear friend's face. He was succeeding in pulling her apart from her spiteful angel persona! However, he was shocked as she hugged him in a vice-like grip. He quickly hugged her back in relief. His short lived elation turned to horror as she pushed him back in the swirling core fluids, rested her delicate hands on his cheeks, and touched her forehead to his! Was she about to kiss him?

Six kilometers away Rei pulled the trigger, "Commencing shot!" The energy pulse from the shot from the particle cannon and a bright hot bolt hit Ramiel dead center and impacted thirty meters below the core exiting the wounded angel on the opposite side.

Rami shrieked as agony coursed through her entire body. The temperature of the core skyrocketed and both Shinji and Misato screamed in pain. The outer shell morphed wildly between random shapes as red blood gushed in a torrent out of the open wounds.

Hyuga gasped and cursed under his breath. "Damn! The shot just missed the core! Cannon fuses are exchanged. Recharge time thirty seconds!"

Thousands of shells rained down on the black angel, and no barrier stopped their arcing trajectories. Thousands of kilograms of matte black crystal fragments were blasted off the Fourth angel's shell and cascaded into the ocean below.

Standing behind Commander Ikari, Vice-Commander Fuyutsuki clenched his fist silently, ruing that one his precious student's daughter was about to die.

Aoba clenched his jaw, "Coastal substation is nearing capacity!"

"Hurry up," Ritsuko fumed.

"Doctor, there is a high energy reading from within the Fourth angel!"

Akagi noticeably paled. "Rei!"

In the cockpit, Rei looked with a quiet sadness as she saw her former friend wildly flail around. "Recharge in progress. Five seconds."

Shinji saw the bright pulse flare around them and gasped, "Rami, don't use your positron beam on Rei!" He clung to her body in desperation.

Her eyes flickered between blue and the normal brown, but she shook her head as she regained her senses. "O-okay!" A viewscreen reappeared showing her adversaries, and she shot out a conical crystal dart in place of the particle attack.

"Centrifugal cannon is recharged," Hyuga reported in triumph.

The blond doctor barked, "Rei fire now!"

"Yes Doctor."

Suddenly alarms in her field of vision alerted Ayanami to a hurtling chuck of black crystalline debris coming directly at her! She pulled the trigger, but the beam only nicked off part of the crystal chunk before it impacted with the cannon and Unit 00 knocking both into the floodplain below.

Ken screamed as the scaffold he was on nearly toppled over! After the dust cloud dispersed and the swaying stopped he gawked as he saw Unit 00 sitting on its rear atop the ruined substation with a cracked eye lens, thousands of black crystal shards littering the area, and the positron cannon in three pieces. He looked back out to sea in the angel's direction and he started to laugh uncontrollably. He realized that Unit A4 was amazingly awesome!

Gendo clenched his interlaced fingers in frustration. He fumed inwardly that nothing about this cursed angel ever went according to plan!

Aoba sighed deeply, "Crystal debris impact! Unit Zero has sustained right hand and optical damage. The positron cannon has been destroyed!"

Maya gasped, "Why did the angel cancel its beam attack?"

The bespeckled tech murmured under his breath, "The angel pulled its punch. Rami-san is still somewhere in there!"

"You son of a…" Ritsuko balled her fists. "Rei, get up! Go grab the Gatling cannon and shoot the blasted thing down!"

Ayanami's weak voice came over the speakers. "Y-yes. I..I am functional. I can still fight."

The Fourth angel shimmered and reformed into a bright blue octahedron. The incoming cannon fire started deflecting off its protective barrier.

A holographic viewscreen appeared to Akagi's left. Rami's face appeared with a determined frown. "This is Unit A4! Please stop the friendly fire!"

The trio of techs looked over to Akagi in stunned surprise.

The doctor barked, "You turned on us Jadel! You can't be trusted ever again!"

Misato gave a V-sign and winked as she appeared on the screen next to Rami, "Chill out Ritsuko! Shinji just tamed the wild angel! She's with us again!"

A pair of embarrassed teens' voices chorused next to her, "Captain!"

Commander Ikari coldly commanded, "Cancel first stage alert! Reclassify the Fourth angel as Unit A4."

"Yes sir." Ritsuko narrowed her eyes and bitterly ordered, "Stop bombardment! Unit Zero return to Eva socket V-14, followed by Unit A4. Cancel evacuation order."

Jadel breathed a sigh of relief. "I'm on my way, Doctor Akagi! T-thank you."

…

Ikari couldn't help but smile as he saw the lights of Tokyo 3 suddenly banishing the inky darkness on the viewscreen. He and Rami watched with awe as the defense towers smoothly retracted and massive skyscrapers directly over the geofront started to rise hundreds of meters into the air. There was a tense moment as the giant angel passed over the naval cordon, but the ships held their fire. After passing over the _Wakaba_ wreck and over the mountains the outer layers dispersed and the red core quickly docked with the extended EVA transport carriage. After the clamps engaged, the mechanism shot down through the multiple underground armor layers and seconds later emerged into the brightly lit Evangelion storage cage.

Misato exhaled softly, "There. Looks like Rei is okay. I see Unit Zero looks a bit dinged up."

Shinji nodded as he saw Unit 00's blue and silver face armor and red eye lens were scored and cracked. Jagged pieces of black shards jutted out of the face plates at crazy angles. Any other damage below the neck was hidden by the millions of gallons of Tang-colored LCL. He felt a sudden twinge as he saw an uninjured Ayanami stand by the entry plug conversing with his father and much to his shock, both of them wore slight smiles!

The crane trundled past the fully repaired Unit 01, and gently deposited the sphere on the cradle. The captain draped her red jacket over Rami's torso to preserve her modesty. Ikari laughed slightly and blushed as he removed his shorts and handed them to his friend. The cables shimmered and vanished along with the core. The only physical remnant from their misadventure was the ruined entry plug. All three NERV combatants gratefully breathed in the cold metallic air.

"Angel-chan!" Jadel looked up and gasped as Ken gave her a bear hug and laughed as he spun her around. "You're back!"

Misato chuckled at the overenthusiastic tech, "Nice to see you too, Technician Ryujo!"

He laughed and set the petite girl down carefully in a nearby chair, "Captain Katsurasgi, I see congratulations are in order." He nodded and gave Shinji a friendly pat on the shoulder, "You too Pilot Ikari!"

Shinji pulled his t-shirt down to hide his white briefs. "We kinda half-assed it, Ryujo-san!"

The tech had a booming laugh. "Well, be sure to celebrate later! Don't worry Pilot Jadel. You'll have a new entry plug by noon today!"

"T-thank you."

A soft voice interrupted the boisterous reunion, "Jadel-san?"

Everyone turned to see the blue-haired girl in the ghostly white plugsuit looking sadly at Rami.

With Shinji's help, Rami got to her shaky feet and threw her arms around the waifish pilot. "I'm so sorry, Rei-san!"

Rei nodded silently and gently hugged her ally back. Both Ikari and Katsuragi were floored at the spectacle.

"Misato-san, when has you ever seen Ayanami-san hug anyone before?"

The captain shook her head in disbelief, "Never!"

…

By 0400h, after endless debriefings and a city-wide D-17 evacuation order being lifted, a weary Misato limped into her apartment. She smiled as Shinji, Rei and Rami followed her inside.

Rei quietly inquired, "Are we here to conduct further pilot conduct reviews, Captain Katsuragi?"

Misato gratefully popped open a beer and then started to laugh uproariously, "You're kidding right?" She had started the day being the legal guardian of Shinji, and ended it discovering that one her other charges was her younger sister!

Rami managed a small titter, "I'd say this is more of a sleepover than a meeting, Rei-san. We were supplied with futon mattresses by the nice NERV security men that gave us a ride."

"Ah. Understood, Jadel-san."

"I wouldn't mind being called Rami. We're friends after all."

Ikari flushed slightly, "She's right. I'm fine with Shinji."

Rei looked at them both with a slightly puzzled frown, "Why would consider me a friend? I broke my promise to protect you. I nearly killed you both."

Ikari shrugged, "It's not a big deal. You were just following orders. It could have just as easily been me in your shoes."

Jadel nodded enthusiastically, "I will never betray you again! I am Rami, not Ramiel!"

"She's right! We are the proud First, Third and Fourth children! Together we make an unstoppable team!"

The raven-haired lady stretched and yawned, "I'd bet the Second child would be making retching noises right about now seeing the love-fest going on in here."

Shinji turned around looking interested, "Really? How well do you know him?"

Misato took a swig from the beer can, and simply couldn't resist messing with her charge. "I've known the Second child for years! Sohryu has a higher sync ratio than even you Shinji! You're in for some stiff competition whether you like it or not when we meet up with the UN fleet and Eva Unit Two later this week."

"Wow," he mused in wonder. "Sohryu-san. A pilot that talented could really help out with the Angel battles! I'd like to get along with him."

Misato got an impish smile, "I'm sure meeting A.L. Sohryu will be quite the unforgettable experience!"

The boy looked thoughtful, "You know I came to this place only because father sent for me. I wasn't expecting anything good to happen."

Rei looked slightly surprised, "You don't have faith in Commander Ikari's work?"

Shinji squirmed a bit at the question as they all took seats around the table. "NERV isn't the issue. The Evangelions are awe-inspiring, and I'm frankly terrified to pilot one, but they are amazing. The problem is that f-father hasn't been kind to me in a long time." He looked at his comrades in arms seriously, "I'm terrible at friendships. Still all of you…I…well, you all have made an unbearable situation a lot more tolerable. Thank you for your support."

Rami beamed and blushed, "You support us too, Shinji-kun."

Katsuragi leaned on the table and smirked as she hugged a dozing Pen-Pen, "It's like we're one screwed up crazy family, aren't we?" She held her beer aloft, "Cheers everyone!"

…

The next morning the three children and Misato watched with solemnity over a vast and sterile graveyard with simple grey monuments as far as the eye could see as sailors in dress whites from the JMSDF fired salute after salute with elegant bolt action rifles. Thousands of sailors stood at attention to honor their fallen brethren from the _JDS_ _Wakaba_. Katsuragi was dressed in a small black hat and a severe black dress trimmed in white with red cuffs and collar. Next to her the pilots were wearing jet black uniforms with thin gold highlights and green triangular clasps at shoulderblade level. Shinji was in black pants and the two girls were in black midi skirts and black tights. All of the children were wearing new black leather bomber jackets decorated with their nametags, NERV emblems, and cartoon decorations representing their Units on the back. Ikari's jacket featured a demonically grinning purple oni with eerie green eyes wielding a huge lance; Ayanami's caricature was a snarling dark-skinned orange-eyed Cyclops swinging a huge club; Jadel's figure was a cobalt angel with white wings, and spiny white hair shooting a lightning bolt from its outstretched arm.

Misato sighed softly as the soldiers returned to their positions. She hefted a small wreath of flowers and laid it on a small tripod. A dignified young man wearing an eyepatch and dressed in a pearlescent naval uniform with his left leg in a cast slowly limped over and saluted the Captain. "It's an honor to meet you in person, Captain Katsuragi! Thank you for everything you and NERV have done to save the world!"

"I'm just doing my job, Lieutenant Houjou. Fighting angels is my destiny after all." Her serious face softened a bit. "How are the _Wakaba_ survivors holding up?"

The man looked sad but composed. "We all have nightmares about what happened. Each one of us asks every day why we were spared when so many of our friends drowned. I still have no idea why I ended up as the only surviving bridge officer." He steeled himself, "Still we have our duty. All but four of us requested to be assigned to a new destroyer together."

Misato empathized with his familiar expression of inner pain, and she reached over and squeezed his shoulder, "You're strong Houjou-san. Remember that NERV has your back. Let me know if there is anything we can do."

Houjou smiled with difficulty, "It would be a big help if I could thank the pilots on behalf of my crew."

"Sure."

They walked together until they were in front of Rei, "This is Ayanami-san."

The Lieutenant saluted, "It's a pleasure miss."

She managed a tiny smile, "Yes."

"This is Jadel-san."

His eye widened, "Are you the pilot of the blue octahedronal angel?"

Rami tried her best to not break down sobbing, "I-I can't say Lieutenant Houjou. I'm so sorry about what happened to you and your crew!"

He bowed deeply, "We are all in your debt! Thank you!"

"No need to t-thank me!"

"Finally this is Ikari-san, our ace pilot."

With effort, Shinji reached over and squeezed Rami's wrist to comfort the quietly crying girl. Impulsively she took his hand and clenched it tightly. His face mirrored his friend's misery, "Mister Houjou, I wish I could have done more."

"No. Your only job is to destroy the vile angels. You did just that." He looked seriously at the slightly built boy, "Our ship was expendable, but you are indispensible, Ikari-san! Call on us as backup anytime." He saluted and left a _Wakaba_ flag signed by over two dozen crewmembers with the Captain.


	10. Chapter 10-Angel's Compassionate Thesis

**Chapter 10-An Angel's Compassionate Thesis**

After the ceremony, Misato drove off to the geofront with Rei, leaving Ryujo to give Shinji and Rami a lift in his beat up Range Rover. She mentioned in an offhand way that she and Ritsuko had to fly off to represent NERV at an unveiling of a competing anti-angel giant robot called Jet Alone. After getting in the jeep, Shinji sighed as he sat in the back seat with only the wheelchair for company as he turned on his cassette player, and retreated from the quiet conversation in the front seat as the playful piano of Beethoven's 'Für Elise' was piped into his ears. Ever since he and Katsuragi were trapped in that twisted nightmare world of Ramiel's heart, he had been on edge with his friend. During the sleepover he hadn't been able to sleep a wink. The situation had not been helped by her clumsy embrace. Despite her obviously inhuman appearance, he had wanted very badly to find out if her lips were as soft and sweet as he had fantasized about. What the hell was he supposed to do now?

Jadel glanced over her shoulder and rubbed clumsily at her face to wipe away the fresh tears. She spoke quietly to technician Ryujo about the moving memorial ceremony, but her mind was far away. Just to rub salt into the wounds of seeing the tormented Wakaba officer, now her best friend was putting up his walls again. She didn't have a clue of what to do. It was her fault for freaking him out by trying to make a move on him! He had also been trapped in her insane alter ego and she knew both Shinji and the captain were more scarred from the mental torture than either cared to admit.

"Well, we're here."

Both the children chimed in unison, "Huh?"

Ryujo winked and parked on the busy mountain road with the concrete retaining wall of the athletic field of the Tokyo-3 First Municipal middle school overlooking a seedy Shinto temple that obviously predated the Second Impact. Its formerly red beams were faded to a mixture of flaking brown paint and grayish wood underneath. Despite its state of disrepair a steady steam of worshipers walked in after paying their respects and tossing coins into the collection box.

Shinji pulled out an earbud, and inquired, "Why are we stopping here, Mister Ryujo?"

"It's a secret!" The black haired tech laughed and maneuvered Rami from the front seat into her chair.

Rami looked silently over at Shinji and flushed with shame.

The trio made their way past the box after Ikari and Ryujo clapped their hands. Jadel joined them in a brief prayer. Then they walked in and both of the children let out stifled gasps at the sight before them.

In the center of oaken room rested a large blue jagged crystal, easily a ton or more in mass. The visitors took turns softly speaking to the massive stone, writing on small slips of paper and sticking them into the cracks.

Rami's mouth hung open for a few seconds, "T-that's…me."

Shinji's blue eyes were wide as well, "W-why is part of Ramiel here?"

Ken chuckled and gave a playful wink to the children, "It's a long story, but a good Samaritan brought it here."

Jadel couldn't wrap her head around what was happening. "Why are the people talking to part of an angel that nearly wiped out their homes and snuffed out their lives?"

"Just ask them, Jadel-san."

A short lady in her eighties turned around at the comment and looked at the newcomers with a gaze that suggested that she had been expecting their arrival for a long time There was warmth in her intelligent brown eyes, "My my. The children from NERV are paying their respects to one of the guardian angels of our fair city?" Most of the other devotees looked up at the children with keen interest in seeing the faces of Tokyo-3's defenders in person.

Shinji shook his head, "Guardian angel? But aren't the angels out to destroy Tokyo-3? Why would you thank her?"

The elderly woman laughed musically and patted one of the pointed ends of the stone, "So you think Cobalt is a she too? She must be, as she possesses a motherly instinct to protect this town."

Another visitor chimed in, "Thanks for protecting us! I don't know how NERV and the JSSDF managed to get Cobalt to switch sides, but seeing is believing!" The middle aged man in a drab business suit adjusted his glasses, "I know for a fact she's helped the giant robots out three times already."

Jadel tried her hardest not to bawl. Why did they have such faith in her? "What did you pray for, sir?"

The man smiled broadly, "I asked her to look after my son Michio and his wife Amaya. They're having a baby in May. I hope for Cobalt's blessing."

The old lady gently took Jadel's hand and squeezed it, "My prayer is for Cobalt to know happiness. I know she must be lonely being the sole angel to be on humanity's side."

Shinji looked nervously over and saw his friend sobbing.

Rami whispered, "I'm s-sure she hears your kind wishes. I'm sure if an angel could cry with gratitude, she could."

As she buried her face in her hands, the fragment resonated and bathed the room in a pulsing blue light, as a chorus of feminine voices sung out a wordless tune. The temple visitors turned and gaped in astonishment. The rock abruptly went dark, and it was as inert as it was before.

A young child with her mother yelled out excitedly, "She spoke to us mommy! Coball spoke!"

Shinji instinctively took a step back, but the friendly tech took his arm, "Easy there Ikari-kun."

"Uh, yeah." He stepped back in and watched in unease as the temple patrons chatted excitedly among themselves.

The old lady caretaker patted Rami on the head and shuffled past them back outside.

Rami hugged Ryujo around the waist, "Thank you for bringing us here!"

"It was my pleasure."

Ikari sighed deeply and apologized to his friend, "Sorry I was so weird earlier."

"It's okay Shinji-kun. You had every right to hate me!"

"I can't hate my friend."

The moment ended when both Jadel's and Ikari's phones vibrated simultaneously.

…

A half hour later a giant UN plane hundreds of meters from wingtip to wingtip with fighter plane escorts flew high above the ruins of the former capital of Tokyo. Bolted onto its undercarriage was the recently repaired Unit-01, at the ready to be deployed. In the cramped personnel cabin, Shinji and Jadel in their plugsuits confronted a worried looking Misato. Shinji gasped, "You mean that Jet Alone robot is out of control, is on its way to Tokyo-2 and is headed for a meltdown?"

"Unfortunately yes. I would ordinarily have cheered on Japan Heavy Chemical Industries little tin soldier tripping on its face. But a nuclear meltdown in a city populated by several million souls? Not on my damn watch!"

Jadel nodded grimly, "The people expect our protection against any threat. What's the plan, Captain?"

"I need to get into that oversized wind up doll and enter the override command at its master console."

Shinji's eyes widened in shock, "You going in that thing? No way! Its way too dangerous!"

Misato winked, "Don't sweat it kids! Your AT fields and armor will prevent any radioactive exposure. You'll be well protected."

"I don't care about that! What about you Misato-san?"

Her brown eyes looked into Shinji's pleading blue eyes, and she realized belatedly that he had bonded to her as a big sister figure. She honestly felt the same in return, but she knew she was ultimately expendable. "Ever since the Second impact, I've felt I was living on borrowed time. I should have died in Antarctica, but my dad saved me. Maybe it was so I could someday save Tokyo-Two."

Jadel shook her head, "I refuse to leave you to die, ma'am!"

"Funny thing that. You don't get to make the call. You have your orders; stop Jet Alone, no matter the cost!"

The Third and Fourth children looked helplessly at each other as they both knew Katsuragi would not be deterred once her mind was made up.

Three minutes later, Jadel looked forlornly at Katsuragi as she sealed her radiation suit and gave her a thumbs up. The rear cargo hatch opened and extended out a refurbished GEHIRN-era entry plug labeled 'X-28'. Ramiel's core materialized around the entry plug and once Rami's brainwaves stabilized, Misato took a diving leap into the ruby-colored core as if it was a swimming pool. She swam past the connecting cables and entered the entry plug behind Rami's control couch. The clamps disengaged and the blue crystalline outer shell shimmered out of higher dimensional space as she formed her aerodynamic kite-shaped configuration. Seconds after Unit-A4 dove down towards the barren plains below; the docking clamps on the giant airship released their hold on Unit-01 which plummeted to the earth in a graceful arc of descent.

Ramiel shot down and hugged the ground passing by a damaged white dome that housed the now wrecked Jet Alone control center, and its empty 80 meter high vertical hanger. She saw the mecha rapidly increase in size on her display screens and gawked at its astonishing ugliness. She blurted out, "Wha-? That's Jet Alone?"

It was a 50 meter tall white robot with a cuboidal torso, topped off by a 'v' shaped 'face' consisting of a grill of glowing white rectangles. Its shoulders, chest, and top of its head were red, and its lower legs were black. Six towing steel/cadmium reactor control rods stuck 20 meters in the air over its back. Its limbs were articulated in a dozen places each giving the movement a fluid snake-like motion as it recklessly charged towards the Tokyo-2 city limits.

Misato nodded grimly, "Ignore its comical appearance. There is a 250 megawatt water nuclear reactor in that machine's torso!"

Unit 01 made small impact craters under its feet as it hit the lifeless ground. Shinji willed his purple cyborg into a full tilt run as he chased after Unit-A4 and Jet Alone. He toggled the comlink open, "Hey Misato, why doesn't Rami-san use her Particle beam on its legs?"

The Captain frowned at Shinji's face on the inset display. "Nice try, but it won't work. If that thing topples, it could explode like a dirty bomb!"

…

Ramiel effortlessly sailed passed the white robot, and dropped directly in its path to block its advance. Her form switched to an oblong hexagonal prism, and she slowed so the surprisingly fleet-footed mecha slammed into her rear crystal facet and AT field. She willed herself to stop, and was shocked how much momentum she had to cancel out to get that cursed thing to stop! Finally Unit-01 caught up and hung onto a giant attachment bracket high up on its back and together they stopped it cold. Jadel whooped, "Allah be praised! We did it!"

Misato patted her sweet half sister atop her head, "My turn now. Shinji, let's play catch!"

"Yes ma'am!"

The Captain swam out of the entry plug hatch and soon exited the core and into the blue outer shell. Ramiel carefully detached a small chunk of her shell with Katsuragi in it and floated it over to Unit-01.

Shinji caught the fragment with his free hand and held it up against the access hatch. Misato exited the blue shard, and was quickly inside the machine. He grimaced as steam from the overheating reactor started to exhale like high pitched whistle. He nervously clenched and unclenched his left hand, "Misato, hurry up! Meltdown in three minutes!"

The black-haired Captain in her pressurized suit awkwardly made her way into the master control room bathed in a ghastly crimson light with all the one meter diameter safety rods fully extruded. She reached the console and typed in 'HOPE' in the input screen that idiotic CEO Tokita supplied to her. Much to her exasperation, the command was refused. She typed it in twice more just to be sure. "Damn! The override isn't working!"

Jadel begged over her comlink, "Captain, get out please! I'll carry it into the ocean!"

Misato was already straining at the control rod with all her might, "I'm going to try to put the shutdown rods in manually! Rami-san, Encase the damn thing if it melts down!"

"Two minutes!" Shinji banged his fist on his armrest as more jets of steam shot out of emergency exhaust ports, "Misato, no! Get out of there! You'll be killed if you stay inside!"

"Shinji-kun's right! You'll never get the rods in time! My angel shell can contain the blast!"

Katsuragi pushed will all her might but the rod barely moved a centimeter in. She managed a faint smile through the pain, "Shinji-kun, Jadel-san, look after each other okay? Make sure Pen-Pen is taken care of!"

Ikari's voice was edging on hysteria, "One minute! Please get out!"

"Sorry kids. It was wonderful to have a family again, if even for a few short weeks."

Stream jets were now hissing all over Jet Alone's torso as both Jadel and Ikari watched in helpless horror. "Ten seconds! Rami-san, now!"

Just as Ramiel started to shapeshift to encase the runaway reactor, all the control rods automatically retracted as the massive machine shut down with a mighty groan.

Katsuragi slumped weakly against the console, her heart racing out of control as the overhead room lights switched to a pale green. "It's over. Jet Alone is safely shut down."

Shinji blubbered, "Oh thank God! You're okay!"

Rami sobbed softly as her entire body shivered, "C-captain. Please _never_ do that again!"

"Yeah, yeah. Once again, NERV saves the day." Except she knew that was a blatant lie. It was nothing that she or the Third or Fourth children actually did. Why did Ristuko warn her off from staging an intervention? She knew her friend was smart enough to sabotage a rival's mainframe, but more importantly why had she done it? Was she under orders from Commander Ikari, or his superiors at SEELE? She just didn't know.

A few minutes later in the passenger compartment on the massive transport plane hauling Unit-01 back to Tokyo-3, Misato fondly watched the emotionally spent children leaning on each other, both fast asleep. She was grateful every day that her ward had met Jadel Rami. That cripplingly shy boy desperately needed a compassionate soul to draw him out of his shell; someone who would stand by his side and support him without conditions. She ruefully admitted that Rami was doing a better job of helping Shinji than she was. She found it darkly amusing that an angel was giving Misato tips on how to be a better person.


	11. Chapter 11-Gaghiel

**Chapter 11-Gaghiel**

"So Shinji-kun, have ya done the deed yet," Toji asked with obvious glee during PE practice.

Shinji practically screamed, "Wha-? No! I don't know what you're talking about!"

Kensuke pushed up his glasses as he sighed, "Why do you have to be so dense, Shinji-kun!"

Ikari blushed crimson and sputtered incoherently.

The military otaku smiled, "You live with that awesome Captain Katsuragi, and work with Ayanami-san and Rami-san every day in your secret lair! Hasn't anything juicy happened yet?"

"N-no! I would never…"

Toji laughed as he effortlessly outdistanced his less athletically inclined friends. "The boy doth protest too much!"

Ikari grumbled at being teased yet again, as he fidgeted with the necklace containing Ramiel's tiny shard. He could never admit about that intimate embrace inside Ramiel, _ever_. "Can…can we take five?"

Soon the three of them sweated profusely and gulped at water bottles as they crouched at the base of a retaining wall anchoring the school and outdoor pool foundations. Shinji watched with interest through the chain-link fence as Jadel in her chair and still in her school clothes was animatedly talking with the pale Rei and the class rep in their navy blue one-piece school swimsuits by the pool's edge. After a short chat, Rami pointed to the pool and Ayanami and Horaki jumped in and joined the other girls doing mock races. She wheeled over to a plastic folding table and handled the scorecards.

"Look at the maracas and cabooses on those babes," Toji beamed as he practically drooled.

"Yeah," Kensuke added in vigorous agreement.

Shinji rolled his eyes, and was very pleased that Rei was finally integrating with her classmates; not that he would ever discuss so delicate a topic with these horndogs. He felt a pang as he realized his half-angel friend was encouraging Rei to not to sit on the sidelines even as her condition excluded her from swimming herself.

"So who has the best rack, Shinji?"

"What?" He looked at his pals with a suddenly blooming face, "Argh! Don't you guys think about _anything_ other than sex?"

Both spoke as one cheerfully, "Nope!"

"Let's see. I'm not really into looks," Shinji mulled seriously. "I like…kind people."

Kensuke laughed, "We have a winner!"

"Good luck scoring with the foreign exchange student, ya perv!"

"No! Wait! Just…no way guys!"

Kensuke ticked off his fingers, "Ayanami-san is an ice queen, The class rep is too bossy, Miss Captain-my Captain is too much woman for the likes of wuss like you!" He chucked Shinji on the shoulder and flashed a V-sign, "But Rami-san is a cute sweetheart!"

And an utterly terrifying 800 meter tall crystal octahedron in her spare time, Shinji silently added. Their relationship was just too complicated to work out he mused gloomily; even though they excelled in tag-team combat against the Angels and the occasional runaway mecha. "Look, if you don't stop teasing me, I won't give you these temporary passes so you can see the UN combined fleet and meet the Second Child tomorrow!"

Both youths immediately cut out the razzing for the rest of the school day.

…

The next day at high noon a lone NERV VTOL shot out across the open Pacific. Inside in the passenger compartment sat Shinji and Misato, with Rami and Hikari on the opposite side. Behind them sat Toji and Kensuke. The military-loving geek had his camcorder out filming the ocean in breathless expectation of seeing the grand combined UN fleet consisting of the nuclear powered aircraft carrier _USS Over the Rainbow_ , the twin Iowa class battleships _USS Illinois_ and _USS Kentucky_ and a dozen smaller aircraft carriers, destroyers, frigates, and submarines. All of the vast armada was there to escort the massive converted cargo container ship _SS Nordrhein-Westphalia_ carrying Evangelion Unit-02 to Tokyo-3 in its hollowed out hold.

The pilot at the controls raised his voice above the whine of the jet engines, "Captain, we are 15 minutes out from the _Rainbow_."

Misato nodded curtly, "Thanks ensign."

Shinji curled up his left hand reflexively, and nervously.

"Relax Shinji-chan. We'll get there in one piece."

"Erm, well." He sighed. "I'm not nervous about the plane. I'm just worried about Souryu-kun. What if he doesn't like me?"

Misato giggled. "Like I said, relax. The second child is competitive about everything. It's nothing personal."

On the port side, Rami glanced over at her friend and then back to the bulkhead in front of her.

Hikari beamed, "He likes you too, don't worry."

"Eh?" Rami's eyes widened and she hissed, "N-no! He only likes me as a friend."

The class rep gently patted the nervous girl on the shoulder and beamed, "Not from where I'm sitting. He's a nice boy, isn't he?"

Rami clumsily wiped her sweaty forehead, "There are better choices than me though."

"Uh-uh. Do your best Rami-san!"

She flushed hard at her friend's encouragement, but she couldn't possibly make another move on him after he had seen such an ugly side of her. He needed his first girlfriend to be a normal human instead of an-

An angel!

Rami's head shot up, "Captain Katsuragi, Gaghiel just manifested!"

"Crap! Where?"

"He's dead ahead! He's targeting the UN fleet!"

Hikari gaped at her friend, not comprehending what they were talking about.

Katsuragi threw on her jacket, and cursed, "Do you sense anything else?"

Rami focused, and kept getting a vague presence that kept slipping out of her mental grasp like a slippery bar of soap. "There's possibly another angel! But the second one is dormant. I can't track it."

"Right, good to know! Shinji-chan, up and at 'em!"

"Yes ma'am!"

Hikari, Toji and Kensuke all looked massively confused.

Misato barked out, "Ensign, hover mode and open the starboard hatch!"

"Yes Captain!" Everybody was nearly bowled over as the VTOL lurched to an abrupt stop, the jet pylons rotating to point straight down. The class rep let out a startled yelp as the seat belt cut into her.

After the aircraft righted itself, Ikari gently hoisted Rami up and turned to let him cling to his back.

Hokari looked at her friend with a dismayed expression.

Rami smiled bitterly, "Thanks for being my friends, everyone. I'll never forget you Hikari-san, Aida-kun, and Suzehara-kun. You were the best!"

"B-but..I"

Misato opened up the door, "Now!"

Shinji waddled over and gaped over the ocean 2000 meters straight down!

Hikari gasped, "Don't jump!"

"Misato, I don't think I can do this!"

Rami defiantly hooked her leg on the doorframe and gave a sharp push, sending the entwined duo out the hatch!

Ikari reacted calmly to the situating by shrieking at the top of his lungs as the cold air rushed past them! Before they could hit the water, he suddenly felt warm cables wrapping around his limbs and red liquid blinding his vision. He opened his eyes and saw the blue crystal casing form around the core, as Ramiel took its full monstrous shape. He felt his earbud hum and he heard Rami's voice in his ear, "Ready to take out the Seventh angel, Shinji-kun?"

He gasped and took a few deep breaths in the hot dry core fluid which was so different from the Eva's cold coppery-tasting LCL, "Yeah. Let's go kick some angel butt!"

Inside the VTOL Misato donned a headset, "Do you read me Unit A4?"

A tinny voice piped up from the console, "This is Jadel! We read you Captain!"

Hikari fell to her knees, "S-she's okay!"

Toji gently helped her up and squeezed her hand for reasurance.

The Captain gave a thumbs up to the stunned children behind her, "Rami-chan and Shinji-chan are fine! Now let's get started!"

Kensuke filmed the pylons rotating back into flight mode as the aircraft was pushed to its maximum speed. He nearly dropped the recorder to the deck when a massive triangular shape burst through the clouds below them. It was a giant bright blue crystal wedge easily 20 times the length of the VTOL, flying in a parallel course.

His eyes bugged out from behind his glasses, "C-captain Katsuragi! Look below us! That blue angel that was over our school is back!"

Misato smiled wearily, "I know Aida-san! That's Unit-A4, the manifested form of Rami-chan's angelic persona."

The class rep looked floored, "Rami…Rami-san is an angel?"

The speaker activated again, with Jadel's voice, "I'm so sorry Hikari-san! I'm sorry I lied to you all this time! I am Ramiel, the angel of Thunder."

"Worry about that later. Unit-A4, attack!"

"Yes ma'am!" The giant wedge shot away at supersonic speed, quickly leaving the VTOL behind.

…

Aboard the _USS Over the Rainbow_ , within the cavernous aircraft hanger bay below the flight deck, a tall handsome pony-tailed man stood against the rail watching the _Iowa_ class battleship and the _Kirov_ class missile cruiser behind it suddenly increase to flank speed. He groaned inwardly as he felt a slender pair of arms around his chest.

A confident girl's voice possessively said, "Ich habe dich gafangen, Herr Ryoji!"

He chuckled, "Jaja Fräulein Sohryu!" He pulled free from his lovesick teen stalker and turned to face the Second child. "Asuka-chan, I fear we're going to be very busy in mere moments."

The blue-eyed girl with her ginger hair tied off with blood red A10 synchronization clips beamed at her crush. She was dressed in a pale yellow sundress that she had to hold onto tightly to avoid any random passerby from seeing more than they should in the gusty hanger deck. She would just beat them to a pulp on the spot if that happened she thought viciously. She pleaeded, "Awwww! C'mon Ryoji-san! You promised me a date today!"

Ryoji rubbed at his stubbled chin and chuckled, "No time, the fleet is shifting position into battle mode. The only date you have today is with Unit Two!"

"But Kaji-san-"

A ringing phone in Ryoji's pocket cut off the Second child's whining. "Yes?" He chuckled, "It's been a long time, sunshine! What's the looming disaster this time?"

Asuka sullenly glared at Ryoji. She instantly knew that it had to be his old flame, and her old guardian Katsuragi Misato at the other end. Hearing the way he cheerfully flirted with her inflamed her adolescent heart with poisonous jealousy.

"Oh. That's probably bad. Okay, I'm on it! Bye my precious!" He winked to the red faced girl, "Misato says an angel is attacking the fleet. Unit A4 is on its way. We have to get you over to Unit Two."

Instantly her annoyance was replaced with excitement. She knew the Third and Fourth children were with Misato, and she couldn't wait to show them up! She grinned wickedly and saluted, "Jawohl!"

…

Captain Briggs couldn't believe what he was hearing! He was too old for this crap! He had severed faithfully in the Navy for decades but absolutely despised being pressed by his superiors into acting as a glorified FedEx service to transport that damn child's toy robot from Wilhelmshaven to Neo Yokosuka. Now with a giant alien bogey closing in from the northwest at mach 1.1, he had wasted no time in launching a full cruise missile spread to demolish the angel attacker. He barked out, "NERV VTOL 38, Rainbow. Did not copy last message! Please repeat!"

That annoying Nerv officer's voice broke through the static, "Rainbow, NERV VTOL 38! This is Captain Kasuragi! Stop shooting at the flying angel! Unit A4 is on our side! The real threat is below you!"

"What?"

"It's right below the fleet! Unit A4 can sense it!"

Briggs looked to his trusted XO. The American officer in dress whites nodded at him grimly! "Sonar contact from the _HMS Titus Andronicus_ , the _HMS Othello_ , and the _JS Kongo_! We just lost contact with the _USS Decatur_. All contacts report a giant bogey rapidly ascending from the seabed!"

"Damn! Tell the _Illinois_ , _Kentucky_ and _Kirov_ to cease cruise missile firing!"

"Aye sir!"

"Rig the fleet for underwater battle. Deploy torpedoes and depth charges!"

"Aye aye!"

The XO looked over to the _Westphalia_ with his binoculars, and gaped. Sliding metal panels on the massive container ship trundled open, and a 50 meter tall giant red robot gracefully hauled itself into a standing position. "Captain, Evangelion Unit Two has been activated!"

Kill me now, Captain Briggs fumed. "Forget Unit Two! Destroy that damn angel below us!"

"Aye-aye, Captain!"

Inside Ramiel's massive shell, octagonal AT barriers exploded missile after missile as the fleet got closer and closer. Shinji winced as the explosions caused shudders resonating through the crystalline shell like being on the inside of a pealing church bell.

He heard Rami's urgent voice, "Shinji-kun, they won't get through! Gaghiel is our problem! He's en route to the _Wesphalia_! Contact Unit Two, and warn Sohryu-san!"

"Got it!" A new viewscreen overlaid the tactical view of the UN fleet and the massive aquatic angel on a rapid collision course! "This is Unit A4, come in Unit Two!"

A feisty, red-haired girl, with piercing blue eyes, and encased a crimson plugsuit with a blue collar gaped at the bizarre sight before her. "Gott im Himmel! You're the Third and Fourth children?"

Shinji sputtered, "What the heck! You're Sohryu-kun?"

Her eyes narrowed, "Yeah! Got a problem with that, Third child?"

"M-misato said that you were a boy!"

Asuka flew into a righteous rage, "Was? Du bist ein Idiot! Dummkopf! Ikari-kun, you jerk!"

"I-I'm sorry!"

Rami's voice in his earbud snapped, "Shinji, focus!" Unit A4 started to elongate so the wedge became extremely thin and pointed like a rapier. "Ten seconds to contact!"

"R-right! Sohryu-san! Get ready for combat! The seventh angel is coming right at you!"

Inside the glowing cockpit of Unit-02, Asuka grumbled and drew out the retractable progressive knife and powered in up, as she saw the shadow of the massive angel making a head on run towards the freighter she was perched on. The four green eyes of Unit 2 lit up brightly as her sync ratio climbed over 55%. She grinned wickedly. Bring it on! Abruptly she saw sun glinting of a tiny blue shape, which rapidly grew in size. "C'mon you Schweinehund!"

A massive tan angel larger than a whale breached the surface with its fanged jaws agape aiming to take out the cargo ship and Unit 2 with it! A screaming blue needle over a kilometer long harpooned the massive nightmare and completely pierced through the Seventh angel. The angel clipped the starboard side ripping out a large chunk of the hull in the process as it belly flopped back into the ocean. Unit-02 leapt over and plunged its glowing knife into the attacking angel's dorsal side. Gaghiel screeched incoherently and attempted to dive back under the surface.

Shinji screamed from the shock of the collision, and Ramiel's cables around snapped taut. He blinked and saw that he was staring out at the pink striated interior of the Seventh angel. "Arggh! Rami, where's the core?"

Jadel grimaced as she felt the muscular bulk of the angel strain to fracture her crystalline shell. "I don't know! We missed it!"

Asuka hung on for dear life as Unit-02 and Unit-A4 were helplessly dragged across the ocean surface. She barked at her inset viewscreen, "Stupid children! You're in angel form and you missed an S2 engine?"

Shinji bowed meekly, "I'm Sorry!"

"Dummkopf! Don't apologize, just kill it!"

Katsuragi cut off the argument, "Asuka, Shinji, the core is in its throat! Rami, try to levitate!"

"Yes ma'am!" Rami nodded and applied full power to her engine, but the bulk was too much for even Ramiel to lift Gaghiel free of the water. The out of control angel smashed off the bow of the _GMD Udaloy_ in its attempts to target the _Rainbow_.

All the ships in the immediate vicinity poured artillery, missile, and torpedo fire at the surfaced Gaghiel. Asuka used the knife to pull Unit 2 closer to the angel's mouth. The Seventh angel responded by smashing the Evangelion against the hull of the SS Kirov, nearly capsizing the Russian vessel. Asuka yelled in pain as she felt the crush damage to her precious Eva through her synchronized brainwaves.

Shinji shook his head, "We have to do something! Sohryu will be killed!"

"I can't use the particle beam in this form," Rami despaired.

Misato cut in again, "Rami, check your subsystems! Do you have any other weapons?"

"No I don't…wait, the shell can create a AT-field powered drill!"

Ikari shook his head! "You do? Now is as good time to use it as any! Unit A4 extending drill!"

Part of the outer shell formed a corkscrew shape and began to burrow its way forwards.

Gaghiel breached in the air as point blank 16" shells inflicted minimal damage to its flank. Unit-02 got to the mouth area and jammed the knife into its gums.

The NERV VTOL finally reached the battlesite, and Misato gaped as she saw her ex-lover Kaji wave to her from the backseat of a Harrier jumpjet as it took off vertically from the deck of the _Rainbow_ and blasted away from the inferno. "That…cowardly bastard!" She growled, "Keep digging Rami!"

The Seventh angel leapt in the air, smashing off the black antenna tower of the Kentucky, and snapping Ramiel's needle-shaped bulk in two!

Rami shrieked as if her spine had just snapped! The drill bit stopped dead.

Asuka yelled at the top of her lungs, "Idiot! Don't give up! Fight the pain Fourth child! Attack the monster!"

Shinji twisted around and faced his friend, touching her cheeks with his hands, "Stay with me Rami!"

Rami looked at Shinji and could only see a blurred face through her tears of agony. "I've...failed you."

Shinji took decisive action, as the only alternative was being turned into paste! He was sure he'd get slapped for this later, but that was better than being dead. He shoved his face forwards and kissed Rami awkwardly on the lips!

"Mmmph!" Rami couldn't believe her fortune. She clumsily reciprocated and deepened the kiss, as tears seeped out into the core fluid. Even if this gesture meant nothing to Shinji-kun, she would eternally treasure it as the happiest moment of her life! She pulled away and her blue glowing eyes lit up with renewed determination. The core lit up with hellish red light and the drill bit plunged deep into Gaghiel's head.

Asuka's mouth hung open in shock, but then the great monster roared in pain and opened its mouth wide. She yelled victoriously, "Sterben Sie Tier!" She plunged the dagger deep into the exposed core and kicked it up to its hilt with her mecha's foot. "Die!"

Gaghiel's core imploded, and its entire body ruptured apart like an overinflated balloon, showering the _Rainbow_ with red blood which shattered all the starboard side bridge windows and engulfed Captain Briggs and his entire retinue!

Ramiel effortlessly mended its fractured body, and gently levitated skywards with a damaged Unit 2 clinging to its gleaming surface. The needle-shaped angel serenely floated over to the USS Over the Rainbow and set down along the centerline of the bloodstained deck. Above the fray in the VTOL Katsuragi laughed with glee as three shocked teens behind her gaped at the carnage below with chalk white faces.


	12. Chapter 12-Separation Anxiety

**Chapter 12-Separation Anxiety**

The VTOL swooped in and alighted onto the edge of the _Rainbow's_ deck. Misato gleefully skipped down the stairs. Having an angel in her pocket was finally paying off! She looked around and saw dozens of fighter jets and annoyed deck crew spattered with the Seventh's angel's blood; but a victory was a victory.

Unit 2 powered down and the entry plug ejected, and spat out the LCL fluid. Still in her bright red plugsuit, Asuka bounded down to the steel deck and puffed up with pride, looking for her love. Had Kaji ditched her again? Damn it! She crossed her arms in annoyance as she saw the blue angel shimmer and dematerialize, leaving behind a thoroughly soaked Shinji and Rami. She strutted over and imperiously offered a hand to Shinji, who reluctantly took it. "Guten tag, Herr Ikari und Fräulien Jadel!"

The frail boy was pulled up into a standing position with Asuka's help. "G-good day!"

The Second child smirked at the still kneeling girl and snarked, "So was he a good kisser, Fourth child?"

Both Shinji and Rami flushed uncontrollably in embarrassment; although Rami inwardly admitted to herself that her beloved friend could use some extra 'training' in the matter.

The two Eva pilots jointly helped up Rami as Hikari pushed her wheelchair over. Rami sighed in relief once she was back in her familiar seat and tried to hide her blush, "It's a pleasure to meet you Sohryu-san!"

"Yeah, yeah. What kind of lame-ass plan was that anyway?"

Misato patted her onetime ward on her shoulder, "That so called 'lame-ass plan' is called a team effort! Congratulations on your first victory Asuka-chan!"

Toji shook his head and scowled, "What a stuck-up broad!"

Kensuke tried to shush his blunt pal, "It's all good! She saved the day, right?"

The Second child glared daggers at the tactless jock, but the class rep gamely interceded, "Great to meet you Sohryu-san! She indicated with a dismissive hand sweep Shinji, Kensuke and Toji, "I'm Horaki Hikari, the class rep for these three stooges!"

The military geek with the glasses gave a slight bow, "Aida Kensuke!" He pointed to his scowling friend, "That's Suzehara Toji."

Finally Rami's percolating hormones settled down, "I'm Jadel Rami, the Fourth child, and pilot to Unit A4." She shivered in shame, "I'm also the fallen angel R-Ramiel." She nearly jumped out of her seat when she felt the class rep give her an affectionate hug!

Hikari beamed, and was elated that her dear schoolmate was still alive. "You're my best friend Rami-chan! I don't care what you are!"

"T-thank you."

"You rock Jadel-san!" Kensuke giggled, "I got some unforgettable footage of you kicking butt!"

Shinji managed a smile at the heartfelt scene of acceptance of Rami-san's true identity, as he was one who had suffered social rejection countless times. He extended a tentative hand to his newest teammate, "Oh! Yeah, I'm Ikari! Ikari Shinji! I hope we can get along Sohryu-kun!"

Asuka pulled a face at the masculine honorific.

Shinji winced at her dark expression, and took a hasty step back, "Argh! I'm sorry! I meant Sohryu-san!"

The Second child sniped, "Stop apologizing! You're a man aren't you?"

Misato clasped both of the arguing children on their backs and winked impishly, "Settle down you two. Shinji-san here didn't know you were a girl until ten minutes ago. So blame me if you must!"

She finally looked slightly mollified, "Fine, fine!"

Jadel wheeled over, "You were magnificent Sohryu-san!"

Asuka broke out into a confident smile, "Naturally. It's what I was born to do!"

Katsuragi shook her head as she saw Captain Briggs and his staff descend to the flight deck, wearing blood drenched uniforms and staring at her with weary numbness. She saluted, and handed over a thin folder. "Captain Briggs, I'll make this quick. I know you have a damaged fleet to attend to. I have the requisition papers authorizing the transfer of Unit Two from you to NERV."

The Captain looked at her with a blank face and wordlessly signed off on the paper leaving a smudge of Gaghiel's blood on the transfer paperwork. He wordlessly turned on his heel and walked back into the carrier island.

Misato looked at the bloodstained thumbprint and shivered inside slightly despite the steaming hot weather. She did her best to change the subject, "Anyway anyone hungry?" She quickly noticed Rami-san starting off Northwest towards the coastline with an expression of utter exasperation.

She tried to hide her sudden surge of concern, "Hey Rami-chan."

Shinji stood at her side with the ocean breeze blowing through his short brown hair with an air of fatigued inevitability, "Just our crummy luck…another one. It's another Angel, isn't it Rami-san?"

She replied with a nod as her hands balled up into fists, "Sandalphon."

Misato rubbed at her throbbing temples. Couldn't they get a break for one damn minute? Ever? "Is the Eight angel active? Is it moving?"

"No. Its curiously inert, like it is in a coma." She looked confused, "I'm not even reading an AT field on it. I think its still maturing."

Asuka ginned fiercely, "I'll rip its heart out! Just you wait, Miss Sandy!"

…

After offloading Unit 2 in Neo-Yokosuka, and dropping off the children, Misato entered the intimidating Commander's office. The room near the apex of the NERV pyramid at the very bottom of the geofront was oddly designed. Ikari Gendo was smugly seated at a single desk in the middle of vast room with metallic square panels with recessed lights adorning both the floor and ceiling. Rectangular windows extended from the floor to the ceiling on all four sides. Dr. Fuyutsuki stood to his right and sighed deeply with a troubled face as he looked over the nautical chart with three red lines triangulating a single volcano in a chain Northwest of Tokyo-3. "Captain, are you positive that this data is correct?"

"Yes, Vice-commander, I'd stake my life on it. Rami-san's angel detecting sense is uncanny. The only time she failed to precisely locate an angel is the time she almost caught hold of another pattern besides the Seventh angel this morning."

Gendo furred his eyebrows slightly, as he knew damn well where that 'mystery angel' was. After all Kaji-san had hand delivered the First angel into his hands only a few hours previously. He was pleased that Ramiel had inarguably advanced NERV and SELEE's goals splendidly, but at times her angelic senses were a bit to on the nose. He noted coolly, "We need to be certain, Captain Katsuragi."

"There's absolutely no doubt, Commander Ikari. We got direct bearings 150 kilometers apart on the _USS Over the Rainbow_. We know the Eighth angel is buried within Mount Asama." The Captain gave a strained smile, "Rami-san assured me that it isn't fully manifested. We already have boots on the ground at the Brändle Volcanology research station. With your leave we'll investigate tomorrow morning at the site with Units One, Two, and A4."

Gendo interlaced his fingers and assented, "Granted."

Fuyutsuki added, "Make sure to inform the technical department to have Unit two's D-type equipment fast-tracked into service, as well as the EM containment cage. If this Angel is underdeveloped, we have an excellent chance at capturing it."

"Ready for your signature, sir."

"Dismissed." Gendo watched the Captain depart down a recessed staircase and mused that having three angels in confinement instead of two would give them an excellent leg up over their alien foes.

…

A few minutes later after arriving from the debrief at NERV Shinji stood in the entryway looking for his jaw that had figuratively hit the floor as he sputtered, "Sohryu-san, what are you doing in my apartment?"

The Second child, now in a casual pale yellow top and short blue jean cutoffs, smirked imperiously at the idiotic Third child, "Not your apartment anymore, _mein kleiner Junge_. You've just been dumped for the new model!"

"Ummmm…my things?"

She jerked a thumb past the dozens of DHL packing crates containing her possessions to outside the apartment door.

Ikari whined as he collected his meager single box from outside, "Aww, why did you throw out my stuff?"

"Hmmph! It was in my way, Third child!" She crossed her arms, "Bunking with Misato again isn't bad, but I'd much rather live with Kaji-kun!"

Shinji gritted his teeth, as he fumed helplessly that this situation stunk beyond words! Twice already he had gotten off on the wrong foot with this ginger-hair snot! There was no way he could bear living with her. He had grown close to Misato-san over the past few weeks, but he guessed that once again he had misjudged the situation. He squared his shoulders and made a decisive decision that he would not have made upon his arrival over a month ago, "Fine, Sohryu-san. Do as you like. I'll go get a room at NERV HQ again." He huffed as he hefted his box and walked out the door.

Asuka had failed to notice his departure, "Whatever, you petulant little boy." She angrily opened and shut the sliding panel door to her new bedroom with intense dissatisfaction. "Hey Third child, listen to me! Why are Japanese homes so flimsy? There isn't even a lock on this damn door!"

An unexpected mature feminine voice made Asuka jump a bit, "The traditional Japanese aesthetic emphasizes communal over individual needs, Asuka-chan."

She turned around, "Hi Misato-san. I'll start unpacking a few essentials tonight, and I'll leave the rest until after we deal with the Eighth angel."

Misato took a swig of beer and then looked around with a puzzled expression, "Where's Shinji-san?"

"Oh I kicked him to the curb. It's just the two of us and Pen-Pen, right?"

Katsuragi spat out her beer and snapped, "I said make yourself at home, not give marching orders! This is still my apartment, and Shinji is living in the second bedroom. I am his legal guardian after all."

Asuka was stunned at the outburst, "What? I thought-"

"You thought wrong! I want all of the pilots to get along!" She flung her half empty can in the sink and stormed out to find the Third child.

Later that evening, Shinji's clothing box sat neatly on the Rami's table. His friend sighed to herself as she was worried that he seemed to own so little to call his own. Clad in her royal blue PJs, she had just gotten off the phone after assuring Captain Katsuragi that her charge was safe for the night. The girl pivoted her chair and spoke up with a reddish tint to her cheeks, "I-if Dr. Fuyutsuki will allow it, I have no problems with you staying here indefinitely, Shinji-kun."

Sprawled out on a spare futon in the darkness, wearing his Ramiel gag shirt with blue octahedron graphic and 'My Angel' text, Ikari shook his head mournfully, "I can't, Rami-san." Out of respect for his dear friend, his SDAT player still sat unused in his carrying box, although he would much rather listen to music than have a heart to heart chat with the girl he had kissed that morning, "You heard the Captain. After our mission, I have to move in with that bi-…unpleasant person and Misato-san! I'm sunk!"

"Look, I know things are a bit…awkward between us. I can go to Hikari's for the night if you need some space, Shinji-kun." She gently took his tape player out of the box and extended it out to him on a shaky palm.

"Ummm. No thanks Rami-san. I can't hide behind my earbuds forever; as much as I would wish otherwise."

She giggled softly as she replaced the player back in the box, "Ah, the infamous Hedgehog spines strike again."

He managed an awkward half-smile, "Yeah, you know me all too well."

With practiced movements she awkwardly stood up from her chair and flopped down on her twin-sized bed. She waved Shinji off from getting up to assist her, as she unstrapped the Velcro ties on her leg braces, "I do this every day anyway. I've got it." She pulled herself atop the sheets and lay on the bed with a thudding heart, "S-shinji-kun?"

He averted his gaze from staring at her prone form, as that caused too much heat to rise to his face. "Yeah?"

She shyly intertwined her fingers, "You know…you know I adore you, don't you?"

The boy was silent for a long time, as he agonized what to say. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn't put words to his turbulent feelings. He really only loved three individuals; all in different ways. He loved Pen-Pen as an absurd pet; Misato as a lovable big sister; Rami as his…what exactly? He had no idea to distinguish between wanting her as a close friend and confidant, or girlfriend. He-

Her warm hand gently touched his shoulder, "Its okay. You d-don't have to love me back, Shinji-kun."

Much to his own surprise he felt his own left hand clasp over Rami's. He heard a sharp intake of breath from her as he answered, "I…I think I do love you. But I'm such a coward I'd rather do nothing than ruin our bond."

She gave his hand a reassuring squeeze before pulling free, as tears flowed down her cheeks. "Status quo is fine, Shinji-kun. After all nothing will ever spoil our bond. Sort out your feelings at your own pace. I'll wait." I'll wait forever, she added silently.

"T-thanks. Goodnight."

"Goodnight Shinji-kun."

Sleep eluded both teens for many hours.

…

Early the next morning, in her modified plugsuit, Asuka was still in a sulk. That _verdammt_ boy had played her for the fool by getting her in hot water with her ex-guardian. She glared daggers at the Third child in his blue and white suit and the Fourth child in her grey suit. "What's the plan?"

Both Shinji and Rami looked guiltily in opposite directions even though nothing remotely indecent had happened the night before.

With Dr. Akagi at her side, Misato gave a teasing, 'you naughty boy' smirk to Shinji as she started her lecture. "Based on preliminary telemetry data with the BVRS magma probe and Rami-chan's scans, we've established that the Eighth angel is still in embryonic form. Rei-san is on standby with Unit Zero at NERV HQ in case there is an angel attack on Tokyo-Three. Unit Two in the D-class thermal exosuit will be winched down into the magma pocket with the EM restraint cage to capture the Eighth angel. Unit A4 in angel form will partner up with Unit Two inside the pocket. Understood?"

Both Rami and Asuka nodded.

"Shinji-kun, you will stay topside. As Unit One is a prototype Eva, it cannot be fitted with D-class equipment. You will stand by the crater as a last ditch defense to prevent the Eighth angel's escape."

Asuka boasted, "Oh don't worry, Misato-san! I took out the Seventh angel with no effort; so a baby angel is no sweat!"

Shinji tentatively spoke up, "I'm…I'm not questioning anybody's abilities here. Still, what happens if it escapes past all three of us? Will Unit Zero be deployed?"

"The angel must be captured or destroyed," Ritsuko replied as she sipped nonchalantly at her morning cup of coffee. "If the Eighth angel breaches Unit One's perimeter, two N2 mines will be deployed from above to seal the magma chamber." She ignored all three pilot's horrified expressions, "The Magi are in consensus that the chances of survival from a double N2 strike are as follows: Eighth angel-0.0001%, Unit One-32%, Unit Two-0.01%, Unit A4-Unknown."

Ikari blurted out, "Who would give an order like that?"

Akagi fixed her penetrating dark green eyes at the stunned teen, "Commander Ikari gave the order."


	13. Chapter 13-Sandalphon

**Chapter 13-Sandalphon**

By midday a massive scaffold traversing the volcanic vent had been fully assembled; it was large enough to support the weight of an entire Eva unit, along with its grey thermal D-class suit. The diving rig looked uncannily like a classic human diving suit. Clutched in its pincers was a tubular orange H-shaped framework forming the rectangular EM capture cage. Asuka in her crimson plugsuit was pouting as she strongly felt her bright red cyborg looked ridiculous. "Sorry Unit Two. I hate the damn diving suit as much as you do, but they made me do it."

"Sohryu-san?"

Asuka's annoyed blue eyes switched from her beloved cyborg to the wheelchair-bound Fourth child. She groused to herself that she would trust this half angel interloper about as far as she could toss her. She forced an acidic smile as she turned away from the volcanic rim of Mount Asama and placed her hands on her hips, "Yes, Jadel-san?"

Rami bowed awkwardly and flashed a sincere smile despite the Second child's obvious crabbiness, "It's not important if you like me or not, Sohryu-san, but please forgive Shinji-kun. You will be living and fighting together until all the angels are defeated."

"Thanks for stating the obvious Fourth child." Her eyebrow twitched as her frown deepened, "Assuming you're right, what happens when Ramiel is the last angel standing?"

Jadel winced slightly but she been expecting the taunt. Ever since the day that she was unmasked she had been agonizing over what to do assuming humanity won the day. She knew her bond with her inhuman alter ego could never be severed. Would she have to sacrifice herself for the good of humanity? She honestly didn't know the answer and it vexed her; especially as it concerned Shinji and his fragile psyche. She gave a helpless shrug as a reply.

Asuka finally exhaled and shook her head. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn't hate this strange girl. After all anyone who excelled at anti-angel combat as Ramiel did was worth her grudging respect at the very least. "I don't get it. Why did you fall for a wuss like Ikari-san anyway?"

Rami flushed brilliantly in her tan cheeks as she stammered, "H-He…accepts m-me…as I am."

Sohryu managed a smirk, "Man, your taste in guys sucks! I don't even see the appeal, but whatever." She refused to even entertain the thought that she might at least admire a pilot so obviously talented as Ikari.

"Hello Sohryu-san, Rami-san. I though you two might be hungry by now." Shinji wandered over with as much confidence as he could muster at Rami's suggestion bearing some tea and onigiri he had whipped up in the Brändle research station kitchen.

Rami beamed and took a curry rice ball and savored its flavor. Shinji was such a great cook, she marveled. She rued that her disability prevented her from doing anything involving the culinary arts, as she yearned to make something in return to her sweet friend.

Asuka downed the salmon rice ball at lightning speed and her eyebrows arched. "Oh! It's…not awful, Third child."

"Oh! I'm sorry! Er, did you prefer a different flavor then?"

"Idiot! I said its fine." She pulled a face as she took a second onigiri off the plate testily and drank the black tea. Her stormy mood quickly passed as she appreciated the delicious peace offering although she would sooner rip her fingernails off than state it out loud, "I didn't know you were into such a girly hobby, Ikari-san. You're a boy with surprising talents."

"Well yeah. I've had to fend for myself since I was little. My guardian had no talent or inclination for cooking, so I was self taught." His smile took on a melancholy tinge, "According to Vice Commander Fuyutsuki my mother was superb cook, although I can't remember what it tasted like. I was too young to remember when I lost her."

Asuka shuffled her feet as she felt sharp pangs of guilt for being so hard on him, "The accident at GEHIRN, right?"

"Yeah. The Captain filled me in." His smile was bittersweet, "I guess I try to stay close with my mother by trying to emulate her recipes. Good food makes people happy. At least that what Misato-san says."

The Second child burst out into incredulous laughter, "Wow! Misato of the curry paste and soy sauce dumped into a cup of instant ramen fame said that? Seriously?"

Both Shinji and Rami broke into relieved chuckles. He smiled as he handed the last rice ball to Jadel, "Hey, I'm on the cooking rotation for most of the meals. Her love for instant food was giving me stomachaches."

"Well we will be sharing quarters so it's best that things run smoothly for everyone." The ginger-haired girl shook her head firmly, "I'll ask her to switch off the rest of her cooking duties with you in exchange for me taking on other tasks, Ikari-san. Honestly, I can't take her crappy cooking either."

Ikari gave his best friend a grateful nod in appreciation that her clever suggestion on how to placate Sohryu had actually worked!

…

Tech 1st class Ryujou smiled as Jadel was eased into GEHIRN entry plug 'X-29', "Looking good angel."

Rami sighed and expressed her concern, "Ryujou-san, once our Units are powered up, you should get back to a safe distance. If we fail N2 mine drops will obliterate the forward base."

Ken gave a wink, "True enough, but my mission is here. Plus I have absolute faith in the Guardian angel of Tokyo-Three."

Rami gave up and held back her tears with effort, "We won't fail. Be safe Ryujou-san."

"You too." He stood back as the entry plug levitated upward as Ramiel's crimson core materialized, and quickly transited over to the center of the steaming crater.

Asuka was already encased in Unit-02 inside her steel colored D-class exosuit. She had been annoyed at the prospect of working with the Fourth child as she felt like she could handle the mission solo. Her fingers drummed on the armrest as the massive Octahedron hovered over the center of the volcanic peak. She heard Misato's voice over the comlink, "Rami-chan, use your particle beam to open up an entry hole for Unit Two." Ramiel's lateral band lit up with a brilliant white light as a roar came to a crescendo and a positron beam obliterated through the lava plug. Orange-red lava shot up and flowed over the hardened lava plug. Asaka frowned deeply as her unit was winched over the crater and Ramiel sang as she shapshifted into a backpack shape that fused with the back of the D-Class diving suit, and plumbed into the 5 refrigerant lines acting a heat pump in place of the land line unit. Flexible blue crystal cables materialized inside the Entry plug of Unit-02 and docked with Asuka's heat-resistant plugsuit. Following protocol, The Second child depressed the right hand wrist switch and chilled refrigerant started hissing through the suit, but the net negative pressure in the umbilical connection to Ramiel prevented the suit from inflating. The half-German pilot mused with a palpable sense of relief that that _verdammt_ suit didn't blow up like a balloon as it was designed; as any photos of that horrible sight making its way back to Kaji-kun would kill her with humiliation! She toggled open the link, "Unit A4, Unit One, are you ready?

A jittery Shinji crouched by the crater rim, and fretted over the danger his fellow pilots were facing. He nodded grimly, "Ready, Sohryu-san." Shinji tensed up as he could see the sunlight glinting off the twin bombers carrying N2 mine payloads circling like vultures high overhead. He cursed to himself, "How could you…father?"

Jadel looked over the luminescent lava with barely contained terror and lied, "I-I'm ready!"

Misato looked over the control screens in the main research wing of the Brändle volcanic research station overlooking a seated Hyuuga, Ibuki and Aoba. Her eyes flickered to a tragic framed photo of the smiling family with a dark haired father and mother both posing with their 10 year daughter with Mount Asama in the background. The Brändle family had been lost in a pyroclastic flow in the year 2000 in the wake of the second impact, as every volcano in the 'Ring of Fire' rimming the Pacific Ocean had erupted simultaneously. Focus, she ordered herself, "Okay, start your descent, Asuka."

"Okay! Hey, Shinji, check out my sweet scuba diving form!" Her mecha splayed its legs wide as it impacted the liquid magma, "Giant stride entry!"

Misato facepalmed at her former ward's showboating. Maya broke into soft giggles.

Shinji blinked in confusion, "Ummm…right."

Instantly as her suit entered the magma pocket, her optical vision went to zero. "Visual telemetry lost."

Jadel winced in pain as she was forced to cut off her thermal and pain sensors to her outer shell as it was burned off by the 900°C heat; only the full power from her S2 engine was sufficient to constantly rebuild the eroding shell. She extended a crystal visor over the D-Class faceplate and projected Ramiel's long wave sensors to Unit-02.

Asuka mumbled under her breath as the relentless heat assaulted her body in pulses, "Thanks." She spoke up as she now had a clear greyscale view of the magma pocket out to 2 km, "Telementry restored. Scanning for the Eighth Angel." Her Unit picked up an oblong oval shape about 1.3 km down. "Gotcha! The target is in sight!"

The pair made the agonizing slow descent as the pressure and temperature rapidly skyrocketed. Rami was well insulated from the heat by her massive shell and the S2 engine, but she was still sweating profusely from the stress. Killing every angel that threatened humanity was taking a toll on her heart, but she was determined to protect her friends…and love from harm.

A loud crack made everyone on the communications line wince. Hyuuga's eyes widened behind his thick glasses, "Progressive knife restraint on the left leg just snapped! We lost it!"

Asuka cursed in German, but a crystal spine shot out and encased the knife within Ramiel's shell, and drew it back inside her main mass. Jadel spoke over the line in relief, "Its okay! I just got it."

Sohryu was getting downright annoyed as her fighting partner was effortlessly upstaging her. What was even more intolerable was that Jadel girl didn't even seem to realize her offense! She gripped her controls tightly and focused on the rapidly expanding Eighth Angel's dark chrysalis. It was a bizarre sight. On her scanners, the case was dark grey with a black fishlike embryonic skeleton with a bulging eye, serrated spinal plates, a whip-like tail and spindly arms and legs. She forced herself to calm down as the distance was down to 500 m, "Target is centered. Capture cage is energized."

Shinji commented on his inset screen, "Wow that thing is hideous!"

Misato smiled slightly, "You expected an embryonic angel to be pretty, Shinji-kun?"

"Ah! No...I mean." He sighed, "Shutting up now."

Asuka laughed derisively, "Good boy!"

Shinji bristled at the taunt but he kept his irritation to himself.

"Sandalphon has detected us, Sohryu-san," Jadel noted quietly. "It knows we're here."

Misato perked up as Asuka oriented the capture cage directly over the Angel's center of mass, "What are you reading, Rami-chan?"

The half human pilot closed her eyes and synchronized with the cascade of turbulent emotions, "Fear. Pain. Confusion."

The Second child felt a strange tickling at the back of her mind as she oriented the EM cage over the ovoid case, and started to feel the Eighth Angel's turbulent emotions as it gaped at Units 02 and A4. Just before she hit the containment switch, she felt a dark memory she had repressed surge up from that day. That was the horrid day as a seven year old when as a newly promoted prospective pilot she had excitedly rushed to her mother's side at the NERV-3 branch base deep under the rebuilt Berlin, Germany. She had raced to the door to her mother's bedroom, opened it, and saw-

Asuka screamed, " _Nein! Nein!_ _Hör auf! Hör auf!_ " She banged her fist on the wall as she tried to blot out the pain, "Get out of my head you bastard!"

Rami winced as Sandalphon fed on Asuka's raw emotions, "Sohryu-san! Calm down! Don't let the Angel imprint on you!"

Hyuuga's worried face paled, "Oh crap! It's hatching!"

The Third child barked, "Sohryu-san, Rami-san, watch out!"

The embryo started to howl like an electronic baby's cry, and distorted as it underwent metamorphosis into a much more powerful form.

Misato cursed, "Damn it! Abort capture! Asuka, deploy the progressive knife and kill it!"

A panicked Rami passed the knife to the mecha's left claw after absorbing the containment bracket into her shell. "Sohryu-san! Now!"

The egg ruptured and the fully matured Sandalphon spilled out, hovering mere meters away from the Eva-Angel team. It was beyond hideous, being a mismash of fish, cephalopod and crustacean. It was just about as big as the Evangelion, but its form was fish-like with a steel-gray dorsal surface and a countershaded lighter grey belly with stubby horizontal tail and lateral fins. In place of pectoral fins was a sweeping pair of articulated, armored arms as that each were nearly as long as its body, tipped with spiny five-fingered hands. Its mouth was on the ventral side at its anterior head region, looking like a circular orifice with triangular serrated plates like an octopus' 'teeth'. It had four eyes, two shaped like a flounder's bunched on the left side of the head; two other glowing green compound eyes mounted on stubby stalks. Much to everybody's shock, Sandalphon reached out with its clawed right hand and traced it along the side of the D-class Suit's helmet in a tentative caress.

Asuka blinked as she suddenly stood inside a concrete block room painted the awful pastel green so favored in industrial architecture. The entire room shook as an Earthquake hammered the ground. She saw a tall man lean over a bank of displays and look over to a pretty lady gawking at a printouts. The man spoke urgently in English, "Beth? What does Washington and Bejing say? Where is the triangulated point of origin?"

The woman looked at her spouse with a pale expression, "Antarctica! Predicted tsunami waves all over the Southern hemisphere an excess of 100 meters! This much seismic energy is going to set off every volcano in the world!" A young girl with black hair and terrified green eyes ran over and hugged her mother's waist, "Mommy! I'm scared!"

"We're okay, Sam!" The father attempted a reassuring smile just as a computer display showing the summit of Mount Asama vanished in an unstoppable outpouring of fine ash and dry lava! The shock sent everyone tumbling to the ground.

As she hugged her daughter the woman asked, "Ben? Is the pyroclastic flow…?"

He slumped by his family's side after setting the transmit button to upload the research data offsite, "I'm sorry Beth, Sam. I'm sorry."

The monitor showed a descending cloud of ash roaring towards the research station.

Tears burned her cheeks as Asuka tried to scream but no sound came out!

In an instant the room was annihilated by the ash cloud, and Asuka came to staring directly into the eyes on an inhuman monster. Both of its claws were barely touching the exosuit's faceplate, as it hung motionless in the magma chamber.

Misato's voice yelled, "Asuka! Answer me, damn it! Do you copy?"

"What?" She shook her head in muddled confusion. "I...I copy Misato."

As her flunkies held their collective breaths, the Captain gripped the back of Maya's seat with white knuckles, "Don't move a centimeter. The Eighth angel can attack at any moment!"

Rami exhaled softly, "Sohru-san. It was talking to you telepathically. What did it say?"

Asuka tilted her head and stared into the Angel's four inhuman eyes, and confidently commanded, "Let go of me."

Instantly the Angel dropped its arms to its sides, and patiently waited.

Sohryu started to laugh hysterically, "Swim in circles while patting your head!"

Misato could believe her eyes as the angel dutifully carried out its nonsensical orders. "Asuka-chan? Why is the Angel following your instructions?"

Shinji was torn between gasping and bursting out giggling. What the hell?

Rami shook her head, "Sohryu-san just synched with Sandalphon. It must have sensed a mutual bond of pain and confusion in the Second child. As a newborn it…it just imprinted on her."

Misato got on the phone with NERV HQ, "Commander, the Angel is under our control. I'll have Asuka haul it up in the containment cage with your leave."

Gendo curtly replied, "Granted. The bombers will remain on standby until it is in cryogenic storage."

"Yes sir." She hung up the phone, "Asuka, stop playing around! Order it to shed its outer form."

"But this is fun!"

Misato's eye's narrowed at her former ward.

"Yeah, yeah! Got it! Hey Angel! Strip down to your S2 engine!"

The Eighth Angel stopped its frolicking, as its outer shell dissolved into vapor leaving its small glowing red core behind.

"Okay come to me, and-"

Before she had had a chance to retrieve her EM cage from Rami, Asuka gaped as the core phased right through the D-class exosuit and right into Unit-02. She reflexively scrunched back into her control couch as a young girl phased through the viewsceen and collapsed naked into her arms!

Unit-02 rejected the contaminating brainwaves and instantly shut down, which plunged Asuka and her intruder into a nearly completely dark entry plug. Sohryu shook her head in bemusement as she softly embraced the unconscious child, " _Scheiße._ "She stroked her hair with her gloved hand, "Sam, I presume? _"_ She chuckled, "What was that stunt for, you little show-off?"

…

Misato was seated as her legs could not support her. The three pilots on site looked at her quietly. Wearing one of Shinji's oversized shirts with her hand fiercely clutching Asuka's, the Eighth angel stared back at Captain Katsuragi with curious emerald green eyes. Her black hair hung to nearly her waist. She broke into a soft smile as she looked up at Asuka, "Metatron Oneechan, who is this lady?"

The Captain shook her head in exasperation. The ghost of Samantha Darleen Brändle stood in front of the stunned operations director, alive but no longer human. "I'm…Katsuragi Misato. And who might you be?"

She smiled cheerfully, "I am Sandalphon, the Greater Key of Solomon, and the wheel of the chariot, and minister to the unborn. I am also the younger sister to Metatron, the Guardian of the watch, and Ramiel, the lightning bolt and thunderclap of God."

Asuka pulled a face, "Hey Sandy, call me Asuka instead of Metatron."

The new Angel hybrid gave the blue-eyed girl an affirming nod, "Of course Asuka-neechan."

"Better. _Vielen dank_."

Misato rubbed her face and looked over to Rami, "Can you explain this?"

Jadel sighed softly, "Sandalphon was born in this magma pocket. It must have somehow fused with Brändle-chan's soul during the Second impact. How that came about, I don't know." She patted her new friend on the head, "Sohyru-chan accidentally overrode her programming to find Adam before it could be executed. So she bonded to her as her sister angel."

"Okay. But can we trust her?"

Rami flashed a tight smile, "Do you trust me, Captain?"

Misato stood up indignantly, "Of course I do, Rami-chan!"

"Then trust her. Unlike my spiteful alter ego, Samantha and Sandalphon are one being. She is a newborn and she will learn whatever we and especially Sohryu-san teaches her."

"Hey! No fair! I'm her babysitter now?"

Katsuragi grinned wickedly. This was going to be too much fun! "No. You're her role model as her new big sister!"

The half-German girl broke out into a sweat and grumbled under her breath as both Shinji and Rami stifled chuckles, but those damn pleading puppy dog eyes of that innocent little girl got the best of her. "O-okay Sandy-chan. Big sister Asuka will look after you!"

"Yay! I love you, Meta- I mean Asuka-neechan!"

" _Ja, ja,_ _Schätzchen_ _._ " Asuka secretly enjoyed the adulation as she reciprocated the warm hug. Still she was flabbergasted by the fact that she never expected to end the day as a big sister figure to a newly hatched angel!


	14. Chapter 14-All's Right

**Chapter 14-All's Right with the World**

With the dark outline of Mount Asama in the distance Shinji sprawled out in a slate blue yukata atop a comfortable futon in a small six mat tatami room. A windchime hanging in the windowsill overlooking the warm evening softly pealed as the distinctive smell of the thermal hot springs wafted into the room. He sighed softly as his body was blissfully relaxed, yet his mind restlessly raced. He was sincerely glad that Rami-san and Sohryu-san had worked together so seamlessly to recruit a new ally, even if she was a creepy angel disguised as an adorable 10 year old girl. He honestly didn't know what to make of the Second Child. She seemed so embittered and relentlessly competitive that he was unsure how to respond. Maybe his culinary talents could help keep her placated outside of battle; but what about in combat or in school? Since Misato had them driven them over to the hot springs as a reward for their hard work, he had been alone in his room; obviously the female pilots had been given much larger separate communal quarters down the hall.

A knock made him sit up, "Shinji-kun, am I disturbing you?"

It was Rami's voice. He got open and slid the door open revealing his closest friend dressed in a Yukata like his sitting in her familiar wheelchair. She wore her black hair loose in place of its usual ponytail and looked up at Ikari with a warm longing in her brown eyes. He stammered, "W-weren't you taking a nap before dinner?"

"I couldn't sleep. Can I come in?"

"Huh?" Idiot! He was acting like such an idiot! "Uh…sure!" He stood to the side as she wheeled in.

She smiled as she made a beeline for the porch and placed her hands on the railing and admired the gorgeous view of the lush tree-covered volcanic valley. Her hands clenched the wood tightly as she knew this reckless move on her part was now or never. She had sworn to herself if she survived the magma dive that she would overcome her fears. She tried to lighten the heavy mood, "Sorry for barging in. Sohryu-san snores."

Shinji glumly nodded in affirmation, "Way too loudly."

Jadel chuckled, "And how would you know?"

"Erk! I mean…arrrghh!" He pouted in flustered agitation. "I passed by her door at the BVRS on my way to the toilet last night! I s-swear I didn't peek!"

Shinji's tormentor broke into merry giggles as she pivoted to face him, "I'm so sorry, Shinji-kun. Captain Katsuragi must be rubbing off on me." She gave an apologetic bow.

He rubbed the back of head bashfully, his cheeks still hot with shame, "I...I'm not mad at you. I'm really glad you, Sohryu-san and Sandy-chan got back in one piece." He forced a nervous smile. "So why don't you hit the hot springs then? A relaxing soak should make you nice and sleepy." Unbidden images flashed through his brain. Damn it! Try not to picture her naked, you perv, he berated himself.

Rami shook her head with a soft-edged smile, "I'd rather be here, Shinji-kun." She swallowed hard and pointed to the overhead shaded hoop-shaped fluorescent ceiling lamp, "Can you turn off the light? We need some privacy."

The Third Child beamed, "Sure thing Rami-san. Just let me-" His mind ground to a halt as realization dawned, _what_ had she just asked him?

Jadel gripped her armrests tightly as she understood that she had just overplayed her hand. She loved Ikari Shinji and was now coming on way too strongly. She shook her head as she wiped a hint of dampness from her eyes, "Ha! Ha! Ha! That was obviously a joke! I guess I'll let you get some rest, okay?" Her skin paled as a click plunged the room into near darkness; illuminated only faintly by the resort pool and landscaping lights. She was shocked as the delicate boy walked right up to her chair and extended both hands. Her eyes blinked rapidly in disbelief as his hands enclosed hers and with a firm pull got her into a wobbly standing position. She started to shiver as she threw her badly shaking arms around his chest to stabilize herself.

What the hell was he doing? He mind had screamed at him not to be so bold, but his body seemed to act on its own accord. Shinji was shaking nearly as badly as Jadel, but he had no neuromuscular disorder to explain it away; he was quite simply terrified. He wrapped his arms around the girl's back to keep her from toppling over. He felt her warm body and petite chest pushing into him, and felt seriously overstimulated. It took inhuman control on his part over his addled teenage hormones to keep any bloodflow away from _there_.

"T-thank you, Shinji-kun." Her heart thudded out of control as she was grateful for any expression of affection from her beloved that she could get. She rested her head on his shoulder and tightened her grip slightly. Her leg braces thankfully kept her quivering legs from giving out from under her. She sobbed softly, "I…I know this is all wrong. I know I'm not human. I know I'm a monster that may have to put down before this is all over. I know even if I was an ordinary girl, that I'd be cursed with this frustrating palsy that would make me a poor choice to be a girlfriend. I know that I'm not even Japanese!" Her hands clenched Shinji's robe, "I know all this, I swear I know it! Still, I can't contain my feelings for you, and Allah knows I've tried!" She smiled bitterly at the irony as she continued to pour her heart out, "All I wish is to walk at your side, with as much time as is gifted to me. P-Please go out with me!"

Shinji should have been stunned to his very core at Rami's maiden's confession, but somehow he'd seen it coming. He had known for a long time and been too cowardly to admit or acknowledge it. Rami-san loved him; a cringing, spineless weakling! He felt her body start to crumple, but his firm embrace kept her upright. Tears pooled in his own eyes as he pleaded, "Why me? You know all of my countless flaws! Of anyone that deserves your heart, I should be the very last boy on your list!"

She was surprised by his sudden surge of strength to keep her from slumping to the floor, and her heart splintered at his self-loathing. "B-because I am always Rami the girl to you first; and not Ramiel the monster."

He was at a complete loss. If anybody had told him even two months ago that his heart would be captivated by a an adorable half-human, half-angel badass like Jadel Rami he would have dismissed the suggestion as a fevered fantasy born out of his lovelorn dreams. "I-I can't see why you'd pick me of all people. But I won't argue with your awful taste in boys. I…I accept your feelings. If y-you'll have-ack!"

Jadel's footing had slipped sending the pair inelegantly crashing down onto the pillow-soft embrace of the futon. Before Shinji could recover his senses, he felt Rami's sweet lips pushing insistently against his. He froze and was utterly clueless what to do, but thankfully Rami sensed that he wasn't taking a breath and reluctantly pulled back and nestled her head onto his chest. "Are you okay Shinji-kun?"

He nodded numbly as he stared at the unfamiliar ceiling with the hanging ceiling tiles and dark overhead light and panted with his head spinning. He couldn't even begin to quantify what he was feeling, but it certainly wasn't bad. "I'm an awful b-boyfriend, but I'll try to be worthy of you."

She shyly kissed his cheek and snuggled into his side, still crying, "I'll try to be the best girlfriend ever! I swear!"

A blinding shaft of light from the hallway made both of the teens flinch as a boisterous Asuka flung the room door open and yelled, "Wakey wakey, Third Child! Get up and- _Gott in himmel! Was zum Teuful machst du zwei?_ "

…

A half hour later, Rami sat in the most isolated corner of the hot springs, facing the wall. All she wished for was the water to swallow her up and end her misery!

Sandy gave her angelic sister a worried glance and spoke to Sohryu, "Asuka-neesama, what's wrong with Rami-neesama?"

Asuka beamed back at the badass fish angel and hummed happily to herself, "Oh nothing! I'm happy that she found a boyfriend."

Rami wailed, "Sohryu-san! Please! I want to die of embarrassment."

The Second child laughed, "I really, really don't see the appeal of that doofus Ikari-san, but whatever. If you're happy together, I'm cool with it."

Misato sighed in good-natured exasperation. Shinji and Rami together was cuteness personified, but the damn complications made her head thump! On one hand the teens worked effortlessly together in battle, and every success drove Shinji's morale and synch ratio higher. Combat progress was essential as the Commander had indicated to expect the battles against the Angels to get progressively tougher. On the other hand, one of her human pilots that humanity depended on was dating an angel!

Asuka finally finished picking on Rami and gawked a little too openly at Misato's ugly scar arcing across the base of her ribcage. The Captain sighed with an indulgent smile, "It happened in the wake of the Second Impact."

Sohryu nodded somberly, "Sorry to dredge that up. Does it still hurt?"

A lot of things still hurt, Misato mused to herself. "No, its fine. I have my mission to defend Tokyo-Three and all of your help is greatly appreciated."

Jadel finally left her corner of mortification and waded over to the Captain, "I'm sorry about that Misato-san."

She rolled her brown eyes good-naturedly, "Water under the bridge. Let's just enjoy the soak, as we head back to NERV HQ first thing at dawn."

Sohryu giggled and yelled at the dividing bamboo partition separating the men and women's section of the baths, "Hey Ikari-san! You like being a ladykiller?"

A disembodied voice whined, "Arrrgh! Sohryu-san, I told you over and over again! Nothing happened! Quit it with the teasing!"

Rami flushed red in her cheeks again as Sandy obliviously added fuel to the fire, "Rami-neesama, what's a ladykiller?"

"Uhh…It m-means…a guy who gets a lot of female attention."

Sandy's green eyes displayed muddled incomprehension, "Why?"

Jadel gave up and sunk under the water as Asuka laughed hysterically at her fellow pilot's humiliation.

…

At dawn two massive EVA-transport planes droned through the skies backlit with bands of orange, pink and violet clouds as the sun began to illuminate the tops of the massive Tokyo-3 skyscrapers. Unit-01 was clamped into a face down position at the rear of the plane with Shinji and Technician Ryujou aboard. Unit-02, still encased in its slightly damaged Type-D thermal diving suit was suspended on the undercarriage of the second plane. Both the Captain and Asuka watched the beautiful sunrise on the new capital city of Japan bathed in the soft golden glow. Flanking the transports was a wedge shaped cobalt blue Unit-A4 and an ugly brown fish-like Unit A8.

Misato received a transmission over the small control center aboard the passenger section, "Captain Katsuragi, permission requested to use EVA Entry Hatch M-3 by the Middle school to return to the geofront."

Misato smiled, "Sure, go ahead Rami-san. Sandy-chan, go with Unit A4."

Sandy's chipper voice piped up, "Roger!"

The two angels pulled ahead of the EVA transports and gracefully sailed over downtown Tokyo-3, past the solar farm of half a dozen 80 story semicircular towers with angled mirrors deflecting the morning sunlight downwards into the focusing lenses that drove superheated gas through turbines to generate electrical power. Ramiel sang softly as she weaved around the glass and steel towers. Sandy in her GEHIRN-era entry plug gaped at Sandalphon's reflection in the 100+ story tall skyscrapers. She was astonished to see thousands of ant-like people bustling through the crowded streets, riding on the yellow and red monorail commuter trains, and apparently mostly oblivious to the massive alien craft zipping towards the mountains towards on the edge of the city. She toggled open her comlink, "Rami-neechan, aren't the humans afraid of us?"

Jadel replied with a soft smile, "Some are. But I've fought three angels here in pitched battles along with Unit One to protect this city, and I guess that the residents see me as an oddly-shaped Evangelion Unit. Follow me, we're almost there."

"Aye-aye!" Sandy beamed as they ascended the steep hillside and passed by the outskirts of the First Municipal Tokyo-3 MS and came to an abrupt halt right in front of a Shinto temple.

An elderly woman in a white dress walked out of the main entrance and regarded the two angels without the slightest hint of fear, "Hello Miss Cobalt. Thanks for dropping by." She gave a formal bow and smiled broadly at her friends.

Rami dropped down nearly to the roadbed with the pointed nose of her craft less than a meter from the temple caretaker. She knew it was time to repay her debt.

The old lady reached out with a wrinkled hand and gently touched Ramiel's outer shell. "I believe in you, Miss Cobalt."

Jadel cried into the slightly reddish core fluid within her entry plug and nodded vigorously, "I believe in you too. I will protect you and everyone in this city with my very soul! I swear it!"

Sandy cheerfully waved to the temple worker with Sandalphon's grotesque arm and giggled as the woman waved back.

Rami contacted her angelic partner, "Okay Sandy-chan, let's go."

"Sure!"

The pair slowly levitated above the mountain roadway and sailed towards a forested Cliffside. Ramiel briefly assumed her octahedronal form and used a vastly diminished form of her particle beam to etch two phrases in English lettering into the sheer rock. After leaving the message as both Angel's shed their outer shells and their S2 engines entered the M3 carriages that transported them both back to the cage, an irate Misato gave Rami and earful. For several minutes after the mountain hatch trundled shut, glowing letters adorning the cliff was a gift for the temple dedicated to the Blue Angel. It was NERV's slogan as quoted from a Robert Browning poem: "God's in his Heaven. All's right with the world".


	15. Chapter 15-Impact

**Chapter 15-Impact**

*A/N: This chapter was inspired by a short film called _Neon Genesis Impacts_. Go watch it; it is seven minutes that will break your heart.*

A small white Toyota van crammed with a four people and a trunk full of musical gear zipped into a tunnel bored into a mountainside leading northwards into Tokyo-3. A high pitched voice from the back seat squealed with delight, "Haruka, Izumi, I'm so pumped! That was an awesome concert, guys!"

A deadpan voice cut in, "We played to a crowd of thirty people at a petting zoo, guys." The quiet girl next to the bubbly brunette looked at her friend with her one blue eye not covered by her long black hair and shook her head, "Anyway, is loud your only volume, Ayako?"

"Heck yeah", the overenthused girl with sandy blond hair and lively light brown eyes gushed. "Hey Haruka, your guitar skills are superb."

In the right hand driver's seat, a handsome man in his 40s with a few streaks of grey in his chestnut brown hair and dressed in a black pinstriped suit and violet tie chuckled softly. He rued silently, Ah, Yokou, if only you had lived long enough to see your child turn into such a sweet and talented young lady. He watched with bemused fascination with his dark eyes at the endless energy of his child and her two best friends.

Seated to his left, the child that shared his hair color and her late mother's golden brown eyes, giggled at her friends' antics. "Hey _Hayashi's Petting Zoo of Wonders_ is only the beginning of the meteoric rise of _Impacts_! Don't worry, we'll get better gigs as word of mouth spreads around."

Izumi winced at the imagery of a meteor impact that had nearly destroyed their world before they were born. Then again, the three of them had decided when they were in elementary school together to name their band after the Second Impact. In hindsight may not have been the wisest marketing move. She exhaled and enjoyed the hum of the AC that screened out the worst of the muggy weather, "Mister Ishii, thanks for the lift again."

Haruka's father smiled as the minivan zipped through the tunnel with the endless banks of amber sodium lamps reflecting off the vehicle. He spoke sincerely, "I know how much this group means to you three. It is my pleasure to be your humble chauffer."

"You rock, Mister I," Ayako giggled.

They shot out of a tunnel headed directly for the Coastal highway at the boundary between Tokyo-3 and the vista of the sunlight ocean. Unfortunately for them, the overhead electronic signs switched to the evacuation warnings, and a pair of hydraulically operated steel barriers cut off their retreat back into the tunnel. The driver cursed and swerved off the next offramp as he saw a line of JMSDF destroyers out in the outer bay pouring fire at something positively massive that was approaching the harbor. Through the muggy haze the monster resembled a demented oversize _Tinkertoy_ set scaled up to the size of a skyscraper.

It was too far to reach the shelter under the solar towers where he worked so Hayato parked the van under the overpass after ramming through a wooden drop gate into a beach parking lot. At least they had some overhead protection if nothing else. He gave a quick prayer as he would never forgive himself if any of these kids got hurt.

Haruka gawked and turned to her father with horrified awe, "Hey dad! Look quickly!"

He couldn't believe it. It was Cobalt, the enigmatic titanic floating guardian angel of Tokyo-3. Cobalt was now a kilometer tall bright blue octahedron that drifted lazily overhead as it sang with a chorus of feminine voices. A 50 meter tall purple, black and green humanoid robot nicknamed Violet by the locals perched at its apex. The van occupants watched with fascinated shock as the giant crystal monster with her robotic partner floated out over the water and screamed as it shot a high energy beam at the other monster. There was a flurry of explosions and then projectiles from the attacking creature zigzagged through the air causing massive explosions all around them, and blasting one of the destroyers in half. The girls shrieked as Haruka clung to her father tightly.

Hayato yelled over the din, "It will be okay, sweetie! Hang-"

The next explosion caused a section of the concrete roadbed to slam down on the hapless van below.

…

Some weeks later at the break of dawn in her white and sky blue school uniform, Haruka sat despondently on the platform surrounding a 1 ton blue crystal fragment that was the centerpiece of her grandmother's temple; the century-old shrine had been her home her entire life. Her right leg was encased in a fiberglass cast until her tibia healed up. All of her classmates in 2-B had autographed the white wrapping with her best friends writing the largest messages.

She looked down at Ayako's messy message that read, "Cheer up Haruka! We all survived a kaiju attack. We have to keep _Impacts_ going! -Ayako."

Izumi's precise calligraphy was predictably more subdued, "Haruka, I hope you and your dad heal up quickly. You are dearly missed. –Izumi"

She felt incredibly guilt over Ayako's message especially. The girliest of the trio had broken down crying next to Haruka's bed in the hospital as she guiltily informed her best friends that _Impacts_ was no more. How could she ever pick up a guitar again as her father's kindly indulgence to act as their transport had cost him both of his legs?

A stooped woman with short grey hair and numerous wrinkles lining her face beamed at her granddaughter as she patted her head. "Sweetie, I know how hard things have been, but remember that your father is back at work, and your family and friends survived a devastating attack. You are fortunate that Cobalt and Violet saved our city for the third time."

The girl curled her fist and stood up on her crutches and started to furiously kick the crystal fragment with her good foot. "Bachan, I hate, hate, hate Cobalt and Violet! My dad was maimed in that attack and he will never be whole again! It's all that stupid crystal's fault!"

Her grandmother hugged her precious Haruka and sighed, "I thought I had lost you both, just as I had lost your mother so many years ago. I know my son has prosthetic legs now, but he still breathes." She stroked her hair as her grandchild wept bitterly, "None of you would be alive now, if our two guardian angels hadn't intervened. Be sure to thank Ikari-chan and Jadel-chan today for their timely aid."

"B-but b-bachan, if-" She fell silent as the stone in the center of the temple glowed with a luminescent blue light. Soon enough a familiar singing chorus indicated that Cobalt herself was headed directly towards the temple. She wanted to run away but she yelled in disbelief as she saw her grandmother serenely exit the main entrance to face the monster. She yelled in panic, "Bachan! Don't go outside!"

"I am not afraid, dear. Cobalt is our lonely defender, forever cut off from her own kind. Try to understand that she suffers too." She walked out into the front garden and stood face to face with a kite-shaped crystal giant and a hideous fish-like monster with segmented and spiny limbs.

Haruka stood in the shadows with amazement and ire watching at her grandma tenderly touched Cobalt's nose. How could she be so kind to those horrid _beasts_?

…

A few hours later, Haruka was back in the First Municipal Middle school again for the first time since the disaster. She a little flustered by all the attention lavished on her by her classmates, and especially Ayako and Izumi. Both of them had brought oversized lunches with two of Haruka's favorite meals: rice omelets and teriyaki chicken. They were all but ready to dig in, but then she saw a familiar black-hair boy walk past amiably chatting with a tan-skinned girl in a wheelchair. She slammed her chopsticks down and stood up with difficulty as Izumi braced her up. "I-I have to hit the toilet. Be right back, ladies." She saw deep concern in Izumi's dark blue eyes and utter confusion in Ayako's light brown eyes. She tried to sound reassuring, "Don't sweat it. I can go myself."

Izumi sat back down and gave a knowing nod, "Be safe. We'll wait for you to come back before we eat."

"Come back quickly! I'm starving," Ayako chimed in with a chuckle.

"I will." She grimly limped down the hallway past the bustling classroom 1-C and soon spotted the NERV pilots in the empty classroom 1-D taking out their bento lunches. Since the first monster attack many of the residents had fled. However after numerous victories by Cobalt, Violet and more recently the other giant robot Cerul, people had started to trickle back in and the school had started to take on more life. Her grandmother's admonishment still rung in her ears, as she spat out with venom, "I have to thank them. I have to thank those _jerks_ ,"

Inside Shinji chuckled, "So you got reamed out by both Misato and the Vice-Commander for your graffiti? That's impressive, Rami-san."

She sipped at a black tea from a can and chuckled, "Yeah. I guess using my particle beam to write NERV's slogan into the side of a mountain to thank that kind old temple lady and draw in visitors to her run-down shrine wasn't the brightest idea in the world."

Shinji softly chuckled as he shook his head, "You're so brave, Rami-san. I admire your courage. Plus I'm sure you were only trying to help."

She fidgeted and blushed faintly, "You're overflowing with bravery too, Shinji-kun. T-that is why I l-love you so."

The Third Child was taken aback as he turned pink in his face, "I…I lo…love you too."

Both children flinched as the classroom door was flung open with a bang. Haruka hobbled inside with fire burning in her golden eyes as she regarded her enemies with deep scorn. "I see. So you lovebirds think my home is about to fall to pieces? Is that your impression, Jadel-san and Ikari-san?"

Jadel swiveled her chair around and finally made the connection of this girl's identity, "Wait, so that sweet old lady at the temple beyond the athletic fields is your grandmother, Ishii-san?"

"Sure is, Miss 'Cobalt'."

Jadel's face turned two shades paler as she gasped.

Shinji was torn over what to do. Normally he detested confrontation, but if it involved his girlfriend, he had to _try_. He stammered, "Ummm...Ishii-san, p-please don't yell at Rami-san. I'm s-sorry if we've done anything to offend you, but-"

Haruka turned her scorn on the quivering boy, "Mister 'Violet', you are the pilot of a huge robot that put down a skeletal 100 story tall kaiju on the waterfront? Does that ring any bells?"

"Y-yes." His blue eyes widened in shock, "Don't tell me you were there?"

She broke out laughing, "You could say that. Remember the coastal highway that got trashed? My father's minivan was under one of the overpasses. One of your stray shots hit the road bed and crushed the car with my friends and my father in it!"

Rami was still too aghast to speak, as the guilt consumed her. There had been so many deaths that were on her head. The drowned sailors of the _JS Wakaba_ and who knows how many civilian deaths that would haunt her for the rest of her life.

Shinji sighed and wiped at his eyes, "I'm…sorry. Is your f-father…?"

She roared in pain and uncontrollable fury, "His legs are metal and plastic now, but yes he survived. All I came here to say is: thank you most sincerely for protecting the city of Tokyo-Three. I am most humbled by your heroism. Go give yourself a big pat on the back. You've earned it, after all!"

Rami wheeled forwards with deep contrition in her brown eyes, "Ishii-san, I am so deeply sorry that your fath-" She was cut off by a hard slap that left Rami reeling in stinging pain.

Shinji seized her wrist, "Ishi-san, stop! Please under-" He recoiled as the furious brunette gave him an equally painful slap.

Haruka screamed, "Go to hell Cobalt and Violet! Just go die!" She raced out in tears.

Ikari rubbed his raw cheek in misery, "Oh crap. I never thought civilians were injured so badly in that battle."

"Shi-Shinji-kun…your bento boxes," Rami sniffled.

He turned to see his expertly prepared potato and onion croquettes, rice, and pickled carrot dish strewn all over the tiled floor from the scuffle. He crouched down to pick up the ruined lunch, and suddenly Rami tackled him to the floor, weeping uncontrollably. They lay together on the hard floor as he stared up at the familiar ceiling. All he could do was hold her and cry together over their shared pain.

…

Later, Misato in her black dress and red jacket loomed over the terrified girl at the security substation mere meters from the upper terminus of the Geofront helical rail line. She slammed her hands down on the metal interrogation table and barked, "Miss Ishii, look at me!"

Haruka squealed in terror and tried with all her might not to lose control of her bodily functions. She had not even made it a dozen steps down the hallway when she was arrested by men in black uniforms and sunglasses and hauled down to the NERV upper terminal building in handcuffs. She sobbed, as tears streaked down her cheeks, "I'm, s-s-sorry, ma'am!"

"That's Captain Katsuragi, not ma'am!" The raven-haired NERV officer leaned in a few centimeters away from her prisoner's face and icily snapped, "So what should I do with you? Out of sense of revenge for your father and your own injuries from the _enemy's_ attack, you decided to assault two of NERV's top notch pilots? You could be locked up for years for that! Years!"

Haruka pleaded as her handcuffs clinked, "Please do as you like with me, Captain; but don't punish my friends, grandmother and especially my dad! Please!" She could barely see through her puffy eyes as she blubbered, "I'm sorry…I though we were struck by a friendly fire attack!"

Misato straightened up and snarled, "I'm sorry you were hurt, but did it ever occur to you how many countless thousands would have died if Ikari-kun and Jadel-san hadn't stood between that monster and Tokyo-Three?"

Haruka nodded and sobbed, and only now realized how much of a fool she had been. She had been so wrapped up in her father's undeserved injuries, that she had been unable to consider the fate of the rest of the city. "I s-suppose the pilots want to press charges, right?"

The metal pocket door hissed opened and Izumi and Ayako raced over and tearfully hugged their dear friend.

She was stunned. "G-guys. How did you get in?"

"You stupid fool," Izumi coldly chided as she embraced her dear friend.

Ayako bawled and joined the hug, "Baka! Why didn't you come to us first?"

"I'm sorry. I should have c-confided in my friends. It's all my fault."

Misato cleared her throat so that her friends got the hint to step behind Haruka so she could see both Ikari and Jadel dressed in formal NERV black uniforms with black bomber jackets decorated with cartoon figures.

With a red welt still apparent on his pale cheek, Shinji gave a fierce nod, "Captain, I refuse to file charges on my schoolmate, Ishii Haruka. It was all a big misunderstanding."

"Seconded," Rami agreed with a contrite look in her eyes. "I know your pain all too well, Ishii-san. There have been many that I have been unable to save; still your tale hit to far too close to home." She looked up to her dear ally, "Captain Katsuragi, please count this incident as closed. As far as I am concerned we're even."

"Ishii-san, you are free to go," Misato calmly noted as she undid the cuffs. "Next time talk to someone before going on an ill-advised misadventure." She smiled as her friends helped the injured Ishii girl up and guided her out of the room. After the door shut she sighed at her charges, "Honestly I can't keep my eyes off you two for a minute."

Shinji rubbed the back of his hair self-consciously, "The mental pain she dredged up was far worse than the slap, Misato-san."

Rami gave a glum nod in agreement, "Misato-san, we need a big favor from you."

"Here we go," Misato chuckled dryly as she affectionately ruffled up their hair.

Out in the hallway, in a neatly pressed business suit, Ishii Hayato stood with a wavering smile as he saw his daughter was okay. The heavy worry fell off his shoulders like a half-ton weight. The residual pain in his mangled limbs was nothing compared to his heartache at the trouble she had plunged herself into. "Hey sweetie," he spoke in a whisper.

"Dad! I'm so sorry! I screwed up again!" She got his jacket wet with her tears as she confessed, "If you hadn't been driving my stupid band around, you wouldn't have lost your legs."

He enfolded her in his arms as he shed a single tear himself, "Oh my foolish daughter, I never blamed anyone for the accident. The fact that a kaiju that attacked Tokyo-Three was nobody's fault…and certainly not yours." He gave an appreciative nod to Ayako and Izumi as he spoke from his heart, "Promise me something, Haruka-chan."

"A-anything, father! Name it! I'll never misbehave ever again."

"Good." He kissed he forehead and wiped away her tears, "Promise me that you will pick up your guitar again. Promise me that _Impacts_ will play again."

Haruka looked deeply shocked, "But dad…I…I can't."

"I want you and Ayako and Izumi to be happy. Music is your passion. Whenever you need a lift, your humble chauffer and roadie stands ready."

"Dad, you're such a fool," Haruka sighed happily as she enjoyed her father's warmth and forgiveness. "Fine. We'll play again."

Izumi beamed as Ayako screamed, "Yahoooo! Group hug!"

Haruka counted herself as a lucky girl, as she gave a silent thank you to Ikari and Jadel. As long as she had her friends and family cheering her on, she would play and sing. She felt like she could do _anything_.


End file.
